It's one of the smoothest roads around and a real pleasure to drive on. That's really saying something because the road I am writing about is gravel. Take a spin on Udell Hills Firetower Road in the Manistee National Forest and you can try it out for yourself! When one of our viewers did just that, he saw one of those recovery and reinvestment signs that we see at the start of any stimulus funded project. He couldn't help but wonder why was taxpayer money going to fix up this seasonal road that he says gets more use by snowmobilers than cars and dead ends where the old abandoned fire tower once stood? What made this gravel road take repair precedence over heavily traveled roads in the county that need work?
He wanted answers so I contacted the Forest Service to get the logic on this one.
Here's the bottom line; a research branch of the forest service requested $135,000 of stimulus money to grade, add culverts and update this approximately 4 mile stretch of road. Its federal land and federal agency requesting the money, so these particular funding couldn't go to repair county roads.
So why spend so much for a road that seems to get so little traffic? The expected response holds true; a better road means better access for crews should a fire start, and it does provide access to the new radio tower that's been installed. It also turns out; the forest service says the surrounding woods are kind of special.
This is the explanation in an email response I received from the Forest Service:
As mentioned before, the Udell Hills Fire Tower Road is a sub-project of the larger
"The Udell Experimental Forest is part of the Huron-Manistee National Forest and was established as a field laboratory for studying the ground-water hydrology of forested glacial sand sites. It is managed by Northern Research Station scientists for conducting scientific studies that require a particular type of forest or geology. At the moment, there are no active studies. However, the Udell Experimental Forest is a prime candidate for future studies on water in a Great Lakes watershed or long-term forest recovery, due to the area's history of extensive logging in the 1870s and 1880s. The Udell Experimental Forest offers wonderful research opportunities and maintenance of the Udell Hills Fire Tower Road is an investment in maintaining that research infrastructure. In addition, the Huron-Manistee National Forest was supportive of the project due to safety considerations. The project improved access to the radio tower that serves the north end of the Manistee National Forest. Consistent radio contact is vital to the safety of field-going employees and fire crews. "
--Debra J.S. Dietzman Director, Communication and Science Delivery Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service
So what do you think? Please leave your thoughts below?
