A DNR task force set up in the Minocqua area during the town's Cruiserfest weekend Feb. 12 and 13, and its alleged "unfriendly" treatment of snowmobile operators during that weekend has angered some area visitors and residents.
Those angered are accusing the task force personnel of harassing snowmobile operators and visitors with a method of operation they felt was unfriendly, discourteous and unwanted.
In fact, Minocqua town chairman Joe Handrick said after learning of the task force's activities in the area, that if he had known in advance they were coming to Minocqua he would have "asked them not to."
During Thursday's meeting of the area's Room Tax Commission, Diane Hapka executive director of the Minocqua-Woodruff-Arbor Vitae Area Chamber of Commerce, said after hearing about the controversy, "it doesn't put a friendly face on the event."
The Lakeland Times received reports from area residents and visitors about what they felt were "strong arm" tactics used by DNR personnel to enforce snowmobile on-trail and off-trail regulations.
Angela Ellenbecker and her husband, Bill, who traveled to the area from Shorewood, Ill., were at Cruiserfest and have attended the event in years past. When they have attended they have also brought their vintage snowmobiles along which they then ride in the torchlight parade held on Friday night. But this year, according to Ellenbecker, was different from previous.
"We were asked to drive our vintage snowmobiles in the parade," Ellenbecker said. "Just when we were going to ride onto Lake Minocqua we were stopped by DNR personnel. They said because our snowmobiles were unregistered we could not ride them in the torchlight parade. And then they would not allow us to drive them back to our hotel. My husband was forced to find a ride back to the hotel, bring back our vehicle and trailer and then put them on the trailer before driving back."
Ellenbecker said she and her husband tried to explain that they had done the same thing for several years and had never been stopped, but she said the DNR personnel were not going to listen to anything they had to say about the issue.
"We said we've done this for seven years, but one DNR person said, 'This is the law. We are not wavering. We're not going to take any crap this year.'"
She said one person from the DNR said that the agency "brought 51 extra DNR guys in for this event."
Tom Wrasse, conservation warden supervisor from Woodruff, was one who served on the task force during Cruiserfest. He said he knew nothing about the incident involving Ellenbecker and other vintage snowmobile drivers.
"I think it had to have been another law enforcement agency that was in contact with them because no member of our task force was at that location," Wrasse said.
Wrasse also said it has been his experience in similar situations that he and others would have allowed the people to drive their vintage snowmobile back to their hotel.
Ellenbecker said after their run-in with the DNR, it was difficult for them to enjoy the remainder of the weekend.
"My husband was so upset he couldn't eat that night," she said. "It really ruined our weekend."
Assembly line ticket machine
Tom Germany, of Chicago, Ill., was also at Cruiserfest. He said he was stopped by DNR law enforcement at about 2:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 13, on the Bearskin Trail in Minocqua.
"They said I had rolled through a stop sign," Germany said. "They then gave me the breathalyzer test and they said I registered .082. But when they took me to the Minocqua Police Department they had me blow six times and each time it said I had only 'mouth alcohol.' Despite that, they still gave me a ticket for over $860 for public intoxication. How can I be publicly intoxicated if it did not register any alcohol?"
Germany also said he felt mistreated by the DNR because after he was handcuffed they put him in a vehicle without putting his seatbelt on and he accused the DNR person driving the vehicle of running through a stop sign enroute to the police department.
Germany and others accused the DNR of being "almost like an assembly line" in how they would stop snowmobile after snowmobile for failing to stop at a trail stop sign and then issue ticket after ticket.
Other complaints voiced
Deanne Kidd, co-owner of The Thirsty Whale on Lake Minocqua, said many snowmobilers came into her business during Cruiserfest with stories of how they had been stopped or ticketed by the DNR personnel that weekend.
"I had someone tell me that they could see when they were stopped on the trail that the DNR people already had many of the tickets prewritten and all they had to do was fill in the name," Kidd said. "That's ridiculous."
Wrasse said he was not aware of anyone from the task force writing out tickets ahead of time, but he said it's not uncommon for personnel to do that.
"They can fill in information about the most common reasons snowmobilers are stopped and then write in the statute number and etc. to save some time," Wrasse said.
"It's one thing to have safe trails, but it's another thing when there is this kind of harassment," Kidd said. "Many came in and said they had received a ticket or had been warned. Some said they would have second thoughts about returning to the area because of their contact with the DNR."
Wrasse said that as far as he knows they had no problems with people they stopped except for one incident.
"We had a snowmobile flee with two people that we wanted to stop for operating while intoxicated," Wresse said. "But the vast majority of the other people were glad we were there trying to protect them and the rest of the public."
DNR denies accusations
Todd Schaller, section chief of the DNR's Recreation Safety Enforcement Division, said he wasn't part of the agency's task force at Cruiserfest so he could not speak to any of the accusations.
He did say that he was informed that the task force had issued 34 citations, 75 verbal warnings and made five arrests for operating while intoxicated. He said despite rumors claiming otherwise, the DNR had only 13 people manning the Cruiserfest operation.
"Six were members of the department from outside of the area. Seven were wardens from the Minocqua area," Schaller said.
"The main focus of the task force is to be a visual deterrent for speed and alcohol violations. That's what we did here."
Schaller also said that a representative from State Sen. Jim Holperin's 12th Senate District office had contacted the DNR after the senator had received complaints about the DNR's actions at Cruiserfest. Schaller said the information provided to that representative by the DNR apparently was enough because nothing more was heard from Holperin's office.
The Lakeland Times requested Schaller provide information on how much was spent by the DNR in connection with the Cruiserfest task force and how much in terms of dollars the citations totaled.
Schaller said he would try to find that information and provide it if possible. The information was not provided before this story went to press.
Schaller said DNR personnel were well within their rights when they ordered the riders of vintage snowmobiles to stop and not drive them any farther. He said they did nothing wrong by also not allowing the owners of the machines to drive them back to their hotel and instead ordering them to be loaded onto a trailer to be removed.
"Every snowmobile has to be registered if it operates on a trail," Schaller said. "There is also registration available for antique snowmobiles. So there is no excuse for not having the machine registered."
Schaller said the only way he can explain why the issue of registration was never brought up before to Ellenbecker and others is that they never came in contact with DNR personnel before while driving the machines.
Handrick concerned
Handrick said he saw no reason for the DNR to have had the task force in Minocqua in the first place.
"This is a family-oriented event," Handrick said. "If you had gone out on the ice you could see that that there were mostly families taking part and enjoying themselves."
"We don't need their assistance. Our police department is more than capable of handling whatever could have occurred during the event. They (DNR personnel) need to concentrate on stopping the drivers who are operating at high speed and who are driving drunk - not families."
Handrick said the town "shares the frustrations of all of the people who had complaints" about the DNR's task force.
Schaller said he assumes that the Minocqua Police Department had been contacted by his department before they set up the area task force, but he could not confirm that they had actually been contacted. When asked if the task force would not have traveled to the area if they had been asked to not do so by local officials, he said they would have had to have had a discussion over such a request.
Wrasse said that he wishes any members of the public who have questions or who believe they were mistreated to contact him and he will investigate the incident.
Joe VanDeLaarschot can be reached at jvandelaarschot@lakelandtimes.com.
Those angered are accusing the task force personnel of harassing snowmobile operators and visitors with a method of operation they felt was unfriendly, discourteous and unwanted.
In fact, Minocqua town chairman Joe Handrick said after learning of the task force's activities in the area, that if he had known in advance they were coming to Minocqua he would have "asked them not to."
During Thursday's meeting of the area's Room Tax Commission, Diane Hapka executive director of the Minocqua-Woodruff-Arbor Vitae Area Chamber of Commerce, said after hearing about the controversy, "it doesn't put a friendly face on the event."
The Lakeland Times received reports from area residents and visitors about what they felt were "strong arm" tactics used by DNR personnel to enforce snowmobile on-trail and off-trail regulations.
Angela Ellenbecker and her husband, Bill, who traveled to the area from Shorewood, Ill., were at Cruiserfest and have attended the event in years past. When they have attended they have also brought their vintage snowmobiles along which they then ride in the torchlight parade held on Friday night. But this year, according to Ellenbecker, was different from previous.
"We were asked to drive our vintage snowmobiles in the parade," Ellenbecker said. "Just when we were going to ride onto Lake Minocqua we were stopped by DNR personnel. They said because our snowmobiles were unregistered we could not ride them in the torchlight parade. And then they would not allow us to drive them back to our hotel. My husband was forced to find a ride back to the hotel, bring back our vehicle and trailer and then put them on the trailer before driving back."
Ellenbecker said she and her husband tried to explain that they had done the same thing for several years and had never been stopped, but she said the DNR personnel were not going to listen to anything they had to say about the issue.
"We said we've done this for seven years, but one DNR person said, 'This is the law. We are not wavering. We're not going to take any crap this year.'"
She said one person from the DNR said that the agency "brought 51 extra DNR guys in for this event."
Tom Wrasse, conservation warden supervisor from Woodruff, was one who served on the task force during Cruiserfest. He said he knew nothing about the incident involving Ellenbecker and other vintage snowmobile drivers.
"I think it had to have been another law enforcement agency that was in contact with them because no member of our task force was at that location," Wrasse said.
Wrasse also said it has been his experience in similar situations that he and others would have allowed the people to drive their vintage snowmobile back to their hotel.
Ellenbecker said after their run-in with the DNR, it was difficult for them to enjoy the remainder of the weekend.
"My husband was so upset he couldn't eat that night," she said. "It really ruined our weekend."
Assembly line ticket machine
Tom Germany, of Chicago, Ill., was also at Cruiserfest. He said he was stopped by DNR law enforcement at about 2:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 13, on the Bearskin Trail in Minocqua.
"They said I had rolled through a stop sign," Germany said. "They then gave me the breathalyzer test and they said I registered .082. But when they took me to the Minocqua Police Department they had me blow six times and each time it said I had only 'mouth alcohol.' Despite that, they still gave me a ticket for over $860 for public intoxication. How can I be publicly intoxicated if it did not register any alcohol?"
Germany also said he felt mistreated by the DNR because after he was handcuffed they put him in a vehicle without putting his seatbelt on and he accused the DNR person driving the vehicle of running through a stop sign enroute to the police department.
Germany and others accused the DNR of being "almost like an assembly line" in how they would stop snowmobile after snowmobile for failing to stop at a trail stop sign and then issue ticket after ticket.
Other complaints voiced
Deanne Kidd, co-owner of The Thirsty Whale on Lake Minocqua, said many snowmobilers came into her business during Cruiserfest with stories of how they had been stopped or ticketed by the DNR personnel that weekend.
"I had someone tell me that they could see when they were stopped on the trail that the DNR people already had many of the tickets prewritten and all they had to do was fill in the name," Kidd said. "That's ridiculous."
Wrasse said he was not aware of anyone from the task force writing out tickets ahead of time, but he said it's not uncommon for personnel to do that.
"They can fill in information about the most common reasons snowmobilers are stopped and then write in the statute number and etc. to save some time," Wrasse said.
"It's one thing to have safe trails, but it's another thing when there is this kind of harassment," Kidd said. "Many came in and said they had received a ticket or had been warned. Some said they would have second thoughts about returning to the area because of their contact with the DNR."
Wrasse said that as far as he knows they had no problems with people they stopped except for one incident.
"We had a snowmobile flee with two people that we wanted to stop for operating while intoxicated," Wresse said. "But the vast majority of the other people were glad we were there trying to protect them and the rest of the public."
DNR denies accusations
Todd Schaller, section chief of the DNR's Recreation Safety Enforcement Division, said he wasn't part of the agency's task force at Cruiserfest so he could not speak to any of the accusations.
He did say that he was informed that the task force had issued 34 citations, 75 verbal warnings and made five arrests for operating while intoxicated. He said despite rumors claiming otherwise, the DNR had only 13 people manning the Cruiserfest operation.
"Six were members of the department from outside of the area. Seven were wardens from the Minocqua area," Schaller said.
"The main focus of the task force is to be a visual deterrent for speed and alcohol violations. That's what we did here."
Schaller also said that a representative from State Sen. Jim Holperin's 12th Senate District office had contacted the DNR after the senator had received complaints about the DNR's actions at Cruiserfest. Schaller said the information provided to that representative by the DNR apparently was enough because nothing more was heard from Holperin's office.
The Lakeland Times requested Schaller provide information on how much was spent by the DNR in connection with the Cruiserfest task force and how much in terms of dollars the citations totaled.
Schaller said he would try to find that information and provide it if possible. The information was not provided before this story went to press.
Schaller said DNR personnel were well within their rights when they ordered the riders of vintage snowmobiles to stop and not drive them any farther. He said they did nothing wrong by also not allowing the owners of the machines to drive them back to their hotel and instead ordering them to be loaded onto a trailer to be removed.
"Every snowmobile has to be registered if it operates on a trail," Schaller said. "There is also registration available for antique snowmobiles. So there is no excuse for not having the machine registered."
Schaller said the only way he can explain why the issue of registration was never brought up before to Ellenbecker and others is that they never came in contact with DNR personnel before while driving the machines.
Handrick concerned
Handrick said he saw no reason for the DNR to have had the task force in Minocqua in the first place.
"This is a family-oriented event," Handrick said. "If you had gone out on the ice you could see that that there were mostly families taking part and enjoying themselves."
"We don't need their assistance. Our police department is more than capable of handling whatever could have occurred during the event. They (DNR personnel) need to concentrate on stopping the drivers who are operating at high speed and who are driving drunk - not families."
Handrick said the town "shares the frustrations of all of the people who had complaints" about the DNR's task force.
Schaller said he assumes that the Minocqua Police Department had been contacted by his department before they set up the area task force, but he could not confirm that they had actually been contacted. When asked if the task force would not have traveled to the area if they had been asked to not do so by local officials, he said they would have had to have had a discussion over such a request.
Wrasse said that he wishes any members of the public who have questions or who believe they were mistreated to contact him and he will investigate the incident.
Joe VanDeLaarschot can be reached at jvandelaarschot@lakelandtimes.com.
