USFS Ranger Jon Benson to be awarded by BWCAW Trail Organization

Duluth, MN; October 11, 2023. The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (“BWAC”) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has been restoring, maintaining, and advocating for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trails for over two decades. In 2022 alone, BWAC volunteers collectively spent 9,475 hours performing volunteer service on trail, equivalent to over $300,000 in wilderness stewardship value to the public good. Much of this work is done thanks to a partnership with the United States Forest Service (USFS) – Superior National Forest. While BWAC is maintained by volunteers, an integral contact for the organization is the USFS assistant district ranger. 

Since 2008, Ranger Jon Benson has filled this role at the USFS Tofte Ranger District. With his partnership, guidance, and enthusiasm for maintaining the BWCAW, BWAC has contributed tens of thousands of hours of volunteer work towards maintaining BWCAW trails under Ranger Benson’s purview. This, in turn, furthers the public’s recreational enjoyment of the wilderness while also providing substantial cost savings to the public. As a thank you to Ranger Benson for his 15 years of partnership with the volunteer community, BWAC will be presenting Jon Benson with the first ever Mike Manlove Memorial Award. The award will be presented by Mike’s spouse, Rebecca Manlove. 

The award is named after Mike Manlove, a former USFS ranger who was a wonderful partner of BWCAW trail maintenance volunteer organizations in the 1990s and 2000s, prior to his passing in 2007. In his time with the USFS Mike provided constant devotion to and expertise for establishing wilderness trails in the BWCAW—assessing trail layouts, performing back-country rescues, and training trail volunteers. Mike readily partnered with trail clearing and maintaining volunteer organizations to lessen the burden on taxpayers. It is in this spirit of partnership and enthusiasm that Jon Benson was selected for the Mike Manlove Memorial Award. 

Please join BWAC in honoring Jon Benson with this first ever Mike Manlove Memorial Award on Monday, October 23, 2023, at 3:30 p.m., at the USFS Duluth office, 8901 Grand Ave Pl, Duluth, MN 55808. 

Contact: Martin Kubik, Founder, BWAC

 phone 651-214-5849

email martin.kubik@boundarywaterstrail.org

US Forest Service and BWA Committee Celebrate 10 Years of BWCAW Powwow Trail Restoration on October 30

For Immediate Release:

US Forest Service and BWA Committee Celebrate 10 Years of BWCAW Powwow Trail Restoration on October 30

Event Date: Saturday, October 30

Time: 1 PM – 2:30 PM

Location: Powwow Trail trailhead at Forest Center, near Isabella, Minnesota

Please RSVP Today at https://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-BWCA-Trails/events/281073808/

October 18, 2021. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWA Committee) in collaboration with the US Forest Service invites all outdoor enthusiasts to celebrate 10 year anniversary of the Pagami Creek Fire and the multi- year effort by volunteers to restore the Powwow Trail.

After the Pagami Creek Fire obliterated more the 95% of the 30-mile-long Powwow Trail, the Forest Service cleared the trail, but ceased the maintenance in 2016 citing prohibitive cost. That’s when the BWA Committee offered to step in and help ever since. Volunteers saw the Powwow Trail as historically unique because it combines old logging roads joined by a connecting link to make it a loop trail. Powwow Trail is a legacy trail because it was built in the aftermath of the BWCA Wilderness Act of 1978.

After the fire, several thousands of dead trees fell across the trail. At the same time, millions of post fire jack pines choked the path rendering the path increasingly impassable. Hikers in 2014 reported either turning back or spending one hour to bypass tangle of treefalls that stretched only 50 yards in the path. Clearing of the trail called for an approval by the US Forest Service and for an unprecedented organizing effort that stretched over several years. BWA Committee contacted the office of the Representative Rick Nolan, and the Forest Service approved clearing a six-mile segment to Pose Lake. After two seasons Forest Service gradually approved further re-clearing of the trail and BWA Committee responded by organizing 150 crews that cut more than 20,000 dead falls and as many new jack pines in past three years.

The miracle on the Powwow Trail is truly remarkable considering that after the fire there were sceptics who doubted that anyone could accomplish the herculean task. This year the US Forest Service renewed efforts to restore several campsites along the trail and recently replaced aging kiosk at the trailhead. Another collaboration project involving the BWA Committee and the Forest Service was replacing the decaying bridge at Diana Lake. The new bridge was built from locally sourced tamarack trees that are naturally rot resistant and is expected to last for several decades before it will need to be replaced again.

Speaking at the event will be John Benson, USFS recreation planner, Martin Kubik, founder of the BWA Committee and of the Kekekabic Trail Club, Susan Pollock, BWAC president, BJ Kohlstedt, Pagami Creek fire coordinator. Shannon Rische, Superior National Forest Deputy Forest Supervisor and other USFS officials will be attending. A cake and hot beverages will be served at the event.

BWA Committee is a volunteer run nonprofit dedicated to preserving the existing, historic, and naturally beautiful trails of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of the Superior National Forest.

For more information, contact Martin Kubik, martin.kubik@boundarywaterstrails or on 651-214-5849 c.