OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – The U.S. Forest Service says it cannot afford to keep losing hundreds of thousands of dollars at its campsites.
That’s why this fall’s federal budget would reduce services at the national forests by 11 percent.
Last week, three Wisconsin GOP lawmakers claimed that the agency’s deficit would disappear if Washington allowed the state to run the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, and sell the timber that’s cut there.
Assembly Republican Jeff Mursau of Crivitz said the federal government would not have to put a nickel into the state’s only national forest.
However, Hilary Markin of the U.S. Forest Service says a takeover by Madison would be much more complicated than it sounds. She tells FOX 11 that there’s no mechanism for a state to take over a national forest — and that means Congress would have to approve such a change, along with all the appropriations that go with it.
She said some sites in the Chequamegon-Nicolet would have reduced services, while others would shut down for good. That includes the Green Lake picnic area near Mountain.
Markin said it cannot be helped, because overnight camping visits have dropped 20 percent over the past five years. She said that if somebody’s favorite spot closes, a similar one is most likely down the road with the same amenities.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
