Our organization is built on volunteer work, and every year we spend a night recognizing all who make our work in advocacy and maintenance of BWCA’s wilderness trails possible. We had a great turnout for our Annual Meeting/Volunteer Recognition Dinner last Thursday evening! Our 2022 numbers were impressive: 18 clearing trips, 118 volunteers, and 9,475 service hours!
As we near the end of trail maintenance season for 2022, we want to thank all of our member volunteers who stepped up and made a noticeable difference in the hiking condition of the Powwow Trail. Though we started off slow, due to lasting snow and high-water levels in the spring, when October is done, we will have had 20 trail trips this year, comprised of almost 130 volunteers.
September is around the corner. BWAC is looking forward to returning to hiking and trail clearing as soon as we can. Here’s what’s happening with the Boundary Waters wilderness, and with our nonprofit.
Prioritizing the safety of our members and volunteers is integral to the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC) mission of preserving historic trails in the BWCAW. In light of the unprecedented spread of COVID-19, we have initiated steps to minimize our exposure to the virus. On March 18, 2020, the BWAC Trail Committee conducted our scheduled meeting by remote conference, a first for us. Here are the highlights of the meeting and how the spread of the corona virus could impact BWAC activities:
Happy New Year to you. In this New Year’s message I want to share our past accomplishments and a glimpse into BWAC 2020 plans. Last year was nothing short of extraordinary. More than 185 volunteers cleared 25 miles of treefalls. The jack pines that proliferated after the Pagami Creek fire, and reached 12-16 feet in eight years, have been cut from the entire trail and no longer obscure the path. For the first time since 2016, several groups of backpackers have been able to hike the entire loop.
