Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact South Fowl ...

Alternative 2: Northern Route (also see Appendix A)
This route begins at the Little John Lake parking lot on McFarland Lake and travels to
the east. The parking area for the Little John wilderness entry point would be used to
service this trail. It crosses the Arrowhead Trail, the Border Route hiking trail, and the
former Tilbury Trail before moving southeast ascending to a bench on the ridge above the
Royal River. The route follows the ridge in an east-southeast direction about 1.3 miles,
then down-slope northeast to level ground and directly east to South Fowl Lake. The 2.2
mile length of this route is all new construction.
Alternative 3: Southern Route
This route begins on the south shore of McFarland Lake near an old resort site. The trail
crosses Wooly’s Bluff Road, proceeding south toward the Stump River. The State’s
Stump River Road is then used for the trail as it travels eastward connecting with the
Arrowhead Trail (Cook County Road #16) approximately 0.22 mile north of its
intersection with the South Fowl Lake Road (State Forest Road #328). From this point
the trail follows the South Fowl Lake Road as do Alternatives 4 and 5. After an adjusted
descent down the hill in Section 11, this route follows the existing route east to the South
Fowl Lake over state, federal, and The Nature Conservancy property.
Alternative 4: Modified Proposed Action (also see Appendix A)
The proposed action alternative starts at the south shore of McFarland Lake heading
south across Wooly’s Bluff road a short distance, then east to the Arrowhead Trail. This
proposal then parallels the west edge of the Arrowhead Trail creating a 10-12 foot wide
trail along or just outside the road ditch, but within the ROW (See map). The existing
parking area at the junction of the Arrowhead Trail and the South Fowl Lake Road would
be re-surfaced with crushed gravel. The trail would then follow the South Fowl Lake
Road easterly and north toward South Fowl Lake. On the north end of this road, a
narrow, steep run needs to be adjusted for safer use. From there the route heads east to
the Lake on the existing route over state, federal, and The Nature Conservancy property.
Alternative 5: Short Route
Several scoping respondents proposed a shortened route which would not use McFarland
Lake as a trail terminus, but rather use the parking area at the intersection of the
Arrowhead Trail and the South Fowl Road as the western trailhead. From there the trail
would follow the route of Alternatives 3 and 4, using the South Fowl Road. Then after
using an adjusted descent down the hill in Section 11, this route follows the existing route
east to the South Fowl Lake over state, federal, and The Nature Conservancy property.
This alternative is essentially the No Action Alternative (No.1) with an improved route at
the steep hill in Section 11 and re-surfacing of the parking area at the intersection of the
Arrowhead Trail and the South Fowl Lake Road.
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