TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
On Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, Gov. Evers announced more than $20 Million in Tourism Capital Investment Grants for projects across the state, including a $140,000 grant to the City of Merrill Parks and Recreation Department.
The City will receive the grant to purchase 70 acres of land that is immediately adjacent to their 950-acre Memorial Forest.
“The Merrill Memorial Forest is located at W3259 Heineman Road (where Hwy. R and Spring Lake Rd. meet up and turn into Heineman Rd.),” said Dan Wendorf, Merrill Area Parks and Recreation Director.
The land being purchased “is immediately adjacent to our Memorial Forest so it is a very good natural fit for the property to add that piece,” Wendorf said. “We are working on the purchase now, it will take a bit working with the grant to finalize, but hopefully within the next month or so we will make it official.”
Merrill Memorial Forest is a 920-acre wildlife habitat area with walking trails for those who want peace and solitude, and it is also a public hunting ground. The park includes an 80-acre wetland area, recently named the Don Manthei Recreational and Wetland Area.
In recent years, the City of Merrill has invested in multi-use pedestrian and bike trails which has increased visitors to the park, the Governor’s press release said. “The additional 70 acres of land will allow them to extend and expand their pedestrian and bike trails to accommodate more visitors.”
Wendorf confirms that, adding that the grant “will benefit the tourism industry by allowing us to continue to develop more bike and pedestrian trails to our already extensive network at the Memorial Forest.”
“We wrote a few grants a few years ago and received funding to create more bike trails at the Memorial Forest and have seen our usage increase steadily ever since,” he said. “The silent sports industry is growing, and we have the perfect location to capture some of that right here in Merrill. We also connected our trails to the Underdown trails, giving us one of the best networks of bike trails in all of Northern Wisconsin. And because of that, we have been able to host some nice bike races and events and the list is growing, and are hoping more will follow.”
For example, the Merrill Area Parks and Recreation Department hosted the Badger State Games Fat Tire Bike Races at the Memorial Forest on Feb. 19, 2022.
“We are fortunate to have amazing partners that have helped us develop these trails,” Wendorf said.
Chris Schotz, a local resident whose passion is biking and trail development, has been instrumental in partnering with us on all of these projects, he said.
“The City of Merrill Parks & Recreation Department is thrilled to be chosen to receive the Tourism Grant to purchase this property to continue to add to the rich recreational diversity we offer,” Wendorf said. “The purchase of this 70-acre parcel will allow us to continue to invest in an area where we are seeing tremendous interest and growth, not only within our own community, but with visitors into our beautiful community. It is another way to continue to make the Merrill Area a destination!”
Created and announced by Gov. Evers in August of 2021, the Tourism Capital Investment Grant Program was funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act, and grants could be used to build, expand, or maintain buildings, travel-related infrastructure, or public attractions. The application period ran from Oct. 7 to Nov. 19, 2021. The grants awarded range from $29,000 to the maximum of $3.5 million, and due to significant interest in the program, additional funding was allocated to support more projects across the state, the Governor’s press release said.
“I know this investment will make a big difference for communities that rely on tourism dollars to thrive,” said Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) Secretary-designee Kathy Blumenfeld, the department that administered the grant process.