Photo Credit: Virginia Small
The current controversy surrounding user conflicts and impacts of mountain biking in Mangan Woods has spotlighted larger issues regarding overall planning and subsequent decision making about specific Milwaukee County parks. Landscapes of ecologically high quality may be most at risk.
Bordering the southern Root River Parkway, Mangan Woods “contains some of the largest old-growth hardwoods in the Park System,” as described on Milwaukee County Parks’ website.
“The stand is found in the southwest corner of the site. Mature northern red oaks and sugar maples provide a dense canopy over prevalent ground flora, including a number of rare plant species.”
The roughly 200-acre preserve is primarily located in Greendale; some areas extend into Franklin. Bordered immediately to the west by South 92nd Street, it is part of Whitnall Park and across from its golf course. Much of this geologically distinctive landscape is nestled within rolling hills, layered ledges, and deep ravines shaped by glacial events at least 12,000 years ago, which was the last glacial period. The site's other significant cultural history includes the mostly undocumented presence of Indigenous people, and remnants of later settlement-era farming
Mangan Woods’ layered history also once included trails for horseback riding and cross-country skiing--dating back many decades. The Rock Sports Complex, a relatively new for-profit venture, and a spur of the countywide Oak Leaf Trail, also now border Mangan woods to the south. About eight residential properties also adjoin the woods.
This preserve is also crisscrossed by at least four miles of intertwining trails that dually serve mountain bikers and pedestrians. With about ten trailheads, both official and rogue, and lacking consistent signage or blazing, these haphazard trails function as a free-for-all akin to busy street intersections without traffic signs.
“Intensive usage and ever-increasing soil compaction is adversely impacting Mangan Woods’ understory, eroding some areas and compromising the fragile Root River riparian zone,” said Dain Maddox, a retired hydrologist and mediator for the U.S. Forest Service who recently visited the site. The Root River Watershed meanders through parts of Waukesha, Milwaukee and Racine counties before flowing into Lake Michigan in Racine.
The Need for a Comprehensive Approach
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Park systems conserve land while also providing spaces for recreation, solitude and renewal. Mangan Woods’ landscape imbroglios could be a touchstone for all high-quality natural landscapes managed by Milwaukee County Parks. Several critical policy issues have surfaced at recent county board hearings during discussions about Mangan Woods. For example, have we developed consensus as a community that the highest-quality, pre-settlement landscapes under public stewardship should be preserved?
“Milwaukee County is fortunate to have some exceptional native landscapes within 15,000 acres of county parkland,” Stephen McCarthy said this week. A landscape architect, he has spent 35 years in public agencies focusing on planning, design, restoration and preservation of natural areas that serve multiple landscape uses.
McCarthy is currently the landscape architect for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District’s nationally recognized “GreenSeams” green infrastructure program. Prior to that he was development and natural resources manager for the Lake County Forest Preserve, a county system of conserved native landscapes north of Chicago. Along with the planning and design of numerous forest preserve developments, he designed 24 miles of trails for a countywide system along the DesPlains River, which traversed numerous high-quality native landscapes.
“Has there been an overall inventory and assessment of ecological conditions throughout the Milwaukee County Park System? If so, which areas should be protected so that they are not degraded or despoiled by inappropriate uses?” McCarthy asked. “We cannot make decisions intuitively about potential impacts to high-quality native landscapes.”
Most people are familiar with the idea that parks enhance what is called quality of life. Many people may not be as familiar with the newer concept of “ecosystems services values.” It was developed and modeled by the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS). According to the agency's website, “By integrating the physical sciences, geography, and economics and other social sciences we can better understand how ecosystems provide value to people, and how to protect and enhance that value.”
“Recent studies have demonstrated that we can indeed identify and quantify economic benefits being made by each park,” said McCarthy. Landscapes that significantly support economic vitality include forests, prairies and wetlands, he said. However, every park is part of our overall green infrastructure system and therefore some measure of ecosystem services. This economic contribution can be quantified and ranked based on how it serves air quality, water quality, aquifer replenishment and flood control. “The simple fact is that natural landscapes are working for us day in and day out, fostering health and well-being and positively affecting our community's bottom line,” he said.
Returns on Public Investments
Photo Credit: Virginia Small
Milwaukee County’s Board of Supervisors is charged with oversight of countywide park resources. An essential role of governmental staff is to provide relevant and transparent information so that legislators can make appropriate decisions. “Today we now know more about the economic aspects of parks and green infrastructure than we did even a decade or two ago,” McCarthy said. “Subsequently, it’s important to inform the public about the overall economic benefits provided by parks, especially natural landscapes that remain conserved, as well as those serving recreational uses.”
Public recreational trails are created for the free and open enjoyment of all people. Particularly in urban and suburban settings, trails are developed by governmental agencies, said Peter Harnik. He is the retired founder of the Trust for Public Land’s Center for City Park Excellence and its nationwide ParkScore Index. “Generally, one or more public agencies own the land used for a trail, and they establish policies that govern its use,” he said. Once a trail or trail system is created, a governing body may delegate maintenance to park staff while retaining long-term oversight authority, to ensure that appropriate management serves the greater good, he said.
Milwaukee County Parks officials have delegated construction and maintenance of trails in Mangan Woods to Metro Mountain Bikers, a nonprofit special-interest group of volunteers. That partnership has been in effect for about 15 years to 20 years, according to various reports. Milwaukee County Parks’ Mountain Bike Trails webpage lists the “Kegel Alpha Mountain Bike Trail, a 4-mile, single-track, narrow trail in Franklin, with a few steep or rocky segments.” It does not mention that the trail is in Mangan Woods. The county's page links to a Metro Mountain Bikers’ map, which brazenly rebrands the mountain-biking trail system—located entirely within Mangan Woods—as “The Rock Bike Park.” Several trailheads into Mangan Woods are directly accessed from The Rock Sports Complex.
It is unclear whether Metro Mountain Bikers has been responsible for all existing trails in Mangan Woods, and whether those trails were based on professional designs developed and overseen by Milwaukee County Parks staff. In any case, over time virtually all trails there have evolved into trails shared by bikers and hikers. Many are undesignated, meaning that they were created haphazardly by users. Fat-tire marks in snow or muddy areas were on display within rogue trails and during recent visits. No existing trails are clearly marked and reserved for safe walking and bird-watching experiences.
A Milwaukee County Parks’ map of proposed trail reconstruction in Mangan Woods shows numerous—but not all—existing trails and indicates new “priority” trails for bikers and hikers respectively. Nonetheless, a map is merely one part of a professional landscape design—not a fleshed-out plan. Also, no narrative has been released that describes specific goals and monitoring of the trails reconstruction project, which began in late 2020. No documents have been publicly shared that provide details about how such goals might be achieved.
Milwaukee County Parks senior officials did not respond to requests for planning documents, including for a “three-season vegetative study” that was mentioned by Ramsey Radakovich, the department’s operations director, during parks committee hearings. The Wisconsin Open Records Law is “designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of government bodies at all levels. Wisconsin defines record as any document, regardless of physical form, that ‘has been created or is being kept by’ an agency.” Supervisor Patti Logsdon recently obtained, and shared publicly, an undated study of Mangan Woods trails by a paid consultant. The document was mentioned in recent parks committee hearings by Radakovich as informing trail redesign.
Parks officials also did not respond, before this article was published, to questions about whether signage and trailhead closures will be part of Mangan Woods’ trail reconstruction, and whether a landscape architect developed the design.
Respecting and Balancing Varied Interests
Mangan Woods exists within a complex environmental matrix, said Maddox. Owned by Milwaukee County, it lies within other governmental jurisdictions and borders other entities. “The fate and delicate balance of this exceptional, fragile forest depends as much upon what county officials, adjoining property owners and visitors do as it does upon natural forces. We all have an interest in the future of these woods and this watershed," he said. "We need to come together in an open public forum and collectively develop a long-range plan for these unique resources held in common.”
A resolution/ordinance (21-407) amending Chapter 47 of the Milwaukee County Code of General Ordinances related to the establishment of trails within the Milwaukee County Parks System, including any changes made to established trails” was passed by a vote of 3 to 2 in the Parks, Energy and Environment Committee. The full county board of will vote on the resolution at its 9 a.m. meeting on April 22, which happens to be Earth Day.
In the long run, the Mangan Woods controversy could foster comprehensive discussions about stewarding and protecting all resources within the Milwaukee County Park System. It could also spur people concerned about the future of any number of legacy park resources to come together to chart a sustainable path forward.
Update:
The County Board of Supervisors voted 10-8 to reject Resolution 21-207. Nevertheless, public attention about the proliferation of trails and other environmental-impact issues in Mangan Woods has resulted in Milwaukee County Parks pausing the construction of new trails in the ancient woodland and Root River riparian zone, which was one goal of the resolution.
On April 22, Milwaukee County Parks Director Guy Smith wrote in an email to Sup. Anthony Stasunas: "The Parks Department is going to continue to hold on any trail building in Mangan, and the greater Kegel Alpha Trail until we feel that there is a better handle on the greater project, specifically concerns from your Office, and if we can mitigate those. We will be in contact with you and your office prior to any new trail construction. While this might delay the overall completion, we anticipate there being specific aspects of the trail project that might have no concerns and Parks would identify those and work with Metro on implementing those individually. For example, the possibility of closing redundant trails that are in immediate proximity to a desired trail, the reroute around the bridge that needs replacing, or some trail signage could be considered. This hold does not include trail maintenance, so Metro Mountain bikers will continue to work with Jessica Wineberg, Parks Trails Coordinator on those items.
Ramsey [Radakovich] reached out to the leadership from Metro Mountain Bikers today, so they are aware of this hold...Ramsey and I welcome discussing this further with you so we can identify next steps."
