Nemadji GIA Trailwork

The Straight Arrow Enduro Riders (SAER) improve and maintain all of the Motorcycle Only single track trails in the Nemadji State Forest and in Douglas County Wisconsin. We also do maintenance work on select miles of combined Motorcycle/ATV trails in both states. The work involves deadfall/windfall removal, cutting back brush, building and maintaining structures for crossings, putting up and maintaining signs, putting in reroutes when logging occurs or when conditions dictate, working with the MN DNR, the Douglas County Forestry Office, the townships of Nickerson, Duquette and Kerrick and the WRCW ATV Club. Doing this takes many volunteer hours both on the ground and in the office.

Why Get Involved?

It’s simple, without the volunteer work, there would not be a trail system and we’d have no place to ride. It is nobody’s job to keep up the trails. It isn’t handled by the DNR or “trails incorporated”. It takes volunteers, enthusiasts like you, not only to keep up with trail maintenance, but to make the trails even better in the years to come. It’s rewarding to be part of the team that does the work on the ground. When you spend a day improving some trail segment, the next time you ride through it you’ll know that your efforts were part of what made it so much fun not just for you, but for all of the riders that use it. Personally, I think that it’s a lot of fun too.

How To Get Involved

The most basic way to get involved is to simply fix problems that you encounter on the trail. The next time you go riding and you see a windfall tree across the trail, stop and pull it off to the side. About 75% of windfall can be pulled off of the trail without the use of tools.

If you really want to get involved and make a significant contribution to the team that works on the trails, if you want to find out about trail workdays, to hook up with the SAER Trails Administrator or Section Leaders; contact “Nemadji Trails Chairman”.

MN Grant-in Aid (GIA)

The MN DNR Grant-in Aid program provides a funding source for our OHM (Off Highway Motorcycle) and ATV trail efforts. It is a program that seeks to compensate clubs for some of the expenses incurred while they “do their thing” maintaining and improving the trail system. The DNR then adds GIA trails to their overall “Trail System” which, in turn, adds recreational opportunities for MN residents and tourists from outside of MN. SAER uses GIA funds to purchase materials needed to accomplish the work and to compensate their workers for some of their expenses incurred while doing the work. GIA is paid for by a portion of the MN gasoline tax, a portion that was determined to reflect the amount of gasoline used to recreate on OHMs, ATVs, etc… Our vehicle registration fees are also added to the GIA funding “kitty”. OHMs, ATVs, OHVs (trucks, jeeps) and Snowmobiles are some of the few forms of recreation in MN that are funded almost entirely by the users themselves.

Douglas County, WI

The Nemadji trail system spills over into Douglas County in its’ northeast corner. In 2010, after a two year effort, about 5 miles of trails in DougCo were officially opened and added to the system. Presently, SAER receives no funding from DougCo for our efforts there. This may change if/when WI begins to register OHMs.