Dear BWAC Friends,
What’s a wilderness worth? The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC) can help you experience forest and bog and meadow set aside for visiting only, not for development, and answer that question for yourself.
Fall Trips. Your help is needed. Registrations are underway for fall clearing trips to the Powwow Trail north of Isabella, MN, where volunteers use hand saws and loppers to keep a historic trail accessible. BWAC offers a variety of guided trips and provides training, tools, and gear advice. Entry permits are provided by BWAC trail partner and land manager, the USFS. You provide a flexible, try-something-new frame of mind. Be willing to earn scrapes and bumps and possibly wear out the knees or seat of your pants. Return to your daily life with limbered-up muscles and the satisfaction of being part of keeping a wilderness trail accessible. Browse the BWAC Meetup site for current trips.
BWAC Leadership. It is with mixed feelings that I announced my retirement from BWAC presidency effective July 31, 2022. BWAC often measures accomplishments in numbers of trees cut and trail miles cleared, but it’s my fellow volunteers, working in the crannies of their personal and professional lives, that have given me the steam to guide this great nonprofit for over two years. BWAC leadership and trail volunteers, BWAC sponsors and those who donate goods and services to our cause, our other trail allies with missions to steward trails in the BWCAW, and our public service colleagues at the Superior National Forest, USFS—I can’t express how many individuals caring about trails make for the best of friends and the best of conservancy. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Stay tuned for more club announcements. The BWAC Board of Directors is excited to be welcoming a new President in the coming weeks. We are lucky to have an experienced backpacker, long-standing trail advocate, and active BWAC volunteer stepping up to lead BWAC for the coming term.
BWAC in the news—in case you missed the story. BWAC has been keeping trails on the map since our establishment as a 501(c)(3) in 2002. We advocate for all trails in the BWCAW with our current priority still on the fire-damaged Powwow Trail north of Isabella, MN. Last October 30, 2021, more than fifty supporters made the trek to the Powwow Trailhead to celebrate Ten Years of Powwow Trail Restoration and Forest Recovery. The sun shone; the speakers were top-notch; the cake and cocoa were delectable. Many attendees experienced the first mile of trail on a hike to the Isabella River bridge. The celebration was hosted by BWAC in collaboration with the land manager, the Superior National Forest. KBJR6, Duluth NBC affiliate, story and video here.
Leading BWAC for me has been about the trails, and about the people. I am grateful for your trust and support, whether you are a past or future wilderness trail advocate. Call or email me at Susan.Pollock@BoundaryWatersTrails.org with questions, to find out more about how you can help, or to say hello.
Sincerely,
Susan Pollock
Immediate Past President
The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC)
