It's sad to see Renville County can't keep up with Lac qui Parle County in terms of an off-highway vehicle park. Usually when a county is able to attain a great asset at no cost the Board of Commissioners will jump at the opportunity, but not Renville County.
Now that the land will be posted, will the paintball players be banned? And what about the hunters? Case in point: At the last meeting this was overheard -- a commissioner joking asked landowner Harvey Mathiowetz at the end of the meeting, "Now that it is posted, does that mean I can't go hunting there?" Mathiowetz said he just has to go with him.
Now that it is posted and the Department of Natural Resources will be enforcing this area, what about the horse riders that are still trespassing on posted land surrounding Skalbekken Park? It seems if an ATV travels through the park on the gravel road -- which used to be allowed and is not hurting anything at all law enforcement is there immediately, but when the horse riders trespass on the posted land, law enforcement is nowhere to be found. I personally know some landowners around the park and am allowed to ride my ATV on their land and have witnessed the trespassing occurrences firsthand, and the landowners have been ignored when asking the riders to go back to the park land.
By the way, I took a walk through Skalbekken Park last summer. It doesn't look any different than three years ago -- all of the same trails are used. I was told that was going to change to just a few designated trails (when is this going to happen?) and the park smells terrible. If you go for a walk there, watch where you step.
Tracey Torke
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Granite Falls
