MARQUETTE, MI-- The Noquemanon Trail Network Council is looking to buy land in Northern Marquette County.
NTN board member Jon Mommaerts says the group wants to purchase at least a 40-acre lot and eight miles of trail easement. It also wants a 100-foot-wide easement used by the Noquemanon Ski Marathon and Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic, from County Road 510 east to a mile west.
Mommaerts says the point of the purchase is to secure permanent access for such events.
“As time goes on there’s more risk of development and land sales that could potentially inhibit the future existence of these events and we’ve got an opportunity to secure that, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” he says.
The NTN has received a $150,000 grant from the Cliffs Natural Resources/Eagle Mine Marquette County Community Fund for the purchase. Private donations will also be used. Mommaerts says he isn’t sure how much the sale will eventually cost, as the group is hoping to acquire other land, as well.
Mommaerts says he hopes the sale will be completed by spring.
