Hello Volunteers and Friends of the BWCA Trails,

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:

Powwow Trail maintenance trips. BWAC spring trips are departing between April 30 and June 11. Using best available advice, we will notify our volunteers immediately, or at a minimum, three weeks prior to trip departure if an individual trip will not go forward. If your trip is canceled or you choose to change your plans for whatever reason, your registration fee will be: a) fully refunded; b) credited to a future trip; or c) can be used as a tax-deductible donation to the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee.  Please contact your crew leader with your choice/ for more information.

April 9 crew member orientation and Duluth chapter events. All large group events have been canceled. We will be developing alternative ways to present crew training in the coming weeks and will keep you apprised.

Hikes. At this time we are leaving the decision for hike events to the crew leaders and participants. If you are symptom free, arrive to the hike by yourself and follow 6 foot social distancing, risk of contracting the virus should be minimal according to the authorities. The responsibility for making a decision is solely yours. Do not participate if you don’t feel comfortable doing so.

BWAC Volunteer Service Agreement with the US Forest Service.  BWAC Advocacy and FS liaison teams are planning to meet with the SNF Forest Supervisor Connie Cummings and Wilderness Managers on March 30 via video conference. The purpose of the meeting is to: 1) sign the Volunteer Service Agreement for Powwow Trail Maintenance; 2) propose a plan and time table for restoring the eight closed campsites on the Powwow Trail.

What can you do in the meantime?  It is not what life throws at you, but how you decide to cope with it.  Get out and hike in your local nature area and breathe in the fresh air of spring.  And if you run out of things to do, contact me if you would like to volunteer – there are several tasks BWAC needs help with and we are 100% volunteer run.

I will communicate with you in two weeks or so about May trips. Our number one concern, as with all trail maintenance trips, is your safety. Thank you for volunteering and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Regards,

Martin Kubik and the BWAC team.

March News from BWAC and invite to Kick-Off

March Letter to Friends of BWCA Trails

Warm weather is here and it is time to think about getting back on the trails! This spring we are on track to restoring the Powwow Trail in 2020 for hiking experience like not seen since 2011.

Your registrations for trips have so far filled 60 spots. There are twenty volunteers who intend to sign up. BWAC needs twenty more to meet our target of 100 volunteers on Powwow Trail this May. Powwow will still be a challenging hike, but our vision is that backpacking the loop after Memorial Day weekend will be much easier than a year ago.

The Forest Service is impressed with BWAC volunteers’ accomplishments and appears to be on board to restore the campsites. To help the Forest Service with trail restoration, BWAC had contacted several key legislators by letter, including Betty McCollum, chair of the Appropriations Committee of the Natural Resources, urging them to support key funding for “deferred maintenance” of hiking trails in the BWCAW. In addition, our Advocacy Team plans to meet with the Forest Service in March in Duluth to discuss priorities and tentative timetable to address the trail needs. This will be an opportunity to bring about change we have anticipated for several years and to collaborate more closely.

Now that we have support of the Forest Service, we need your continued pledge as well. With twenty openings on May trips, consider joining one of the backpacking or canoeing adventures. And whether you registered for a trip yet or not, I invite you to the 2020 BWCA Backpacking Trails Kick-Off this Saturday, March 7 at noon at Lebanon Hills Regional Park. Become more knowledgeable about both sides of the BWCAW: a) keynote speaker Dr. Mark Neuzil of University of St. Thomas will present “History of Canoe in North America,” and b) you will discover/get an update on three BWCAW backpacking trails: Kekekabic (40 miles), Border Route Trail (70 miles) and the Powwow Trail (30 miles). Registration is only $5 for pizza (youth under 18 for free, but let us know) and following the presentations, choose one of four of the 20 minute workshops: “What’s in my pack, Water purification, Camping stoves, and Map & compass.” In addition to pizza lunch, Trailtopia is hosting a demo of tasting their freeze dried foods and giving away a door prize of Trailtopia mix. Crew leaders will be on hand to answer your questions about the trips and gear. Please help us to get a head count for lunch by RSVP’ing today here.

Remember that when you volunteer with BWAC, you gain personally rewarding experience while you serve a higher purpose that benefits the society. Together, we are making the Boundary Waters better. Thank you for volunteering.

Regards,

Martin Kubik, organizer.  Questions?  Reach me at wtrails2@yahoo.com or call/text to 651-214-5849

PS  What's it like?  See photos from 2019 event here.

New Year Message to BWAC Volunteers

Click here for a photo album version on Smugmug.  Or read below and come back for photos.

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.

This is a tremendous success we should be rightfully proud of.  Forest Service Kawishiwi (Ely) District Ranger Gus Smith was impressed and sent a thank you note to us, commenting on the high quality of trail clearing work by BWAC volunteers last summer.

What lies ahead in 2020?  Our work is far from complete and much more needs to be done.

1) We estimate there will be about 3,000 treefalls on the trail after winter snows, up from the 2000 treefalls counted at the end of 2019 clearing. Our trail committee has already met twice in December and is organizing ten trail clearing crews for May, 2020.  Be sure to look for your own 2020 adventure or two on Meetup in mid-January!

2) The good news: by Memorial Day weekend, the Powwow trail should be passable to most hikers with above average trail finding skills.  In 2020 the Forest Service plans to replace the PWT trailhead kiosk, including a map. The not-so-good news: eight unrestored campsites remain along the trail.  These have been removed from official maps and presently there is no timeline or plan to reopen them. Pose Lake is the only campsite that has been restored (2015).  Hikers need safe locations to camp, with fire grates and latrines and without danger of hazard trees falling. Camping off the trail is impossible due to the sheer number of treefalls and choking growth of new jack pines that blanket the ground.

3) The BWAC advocacy team plans to meet with the USFS this winter and lobby for renewal of the eight campsites.  In addition to asking the Forest Service for help, we intend to reach to our elected officials.  We will ask that “deferred maintenance” funds by the Natural Resources Appropriation Committee be specifically designated for trail maintenance on the Powwow Trail, so that the Forest Service has means to restore the sites.

4) On the organizational side of our work,  Duluth BWAC volunteers  successfully established a Northern MN BWAC Chapter with a sponsorship from Frost River Outdoor Store.  Thank you Duluth area volunteers for two years of maintaining Powwow Trail!

5) On the sponsorship front, BWAC has other good news. Kawishiwi Lodge / Lake One Outfitters, donates the use of Kevlar canoes and their lakeside bunkhouse for BWAC crews paddling to the west and north side of the Powwow Trail. Trailtopia offers a 20% discount for their nutritious and convenient backpacking food to all BWAC volunteers, and a 50% discount to crew leaders.

The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee has an awesome track record in trail advocacy and trail restoration. I believe that with your help and commitment, we will be successful in bringing about a complete rebirth of Powwow Trail experience for backpackers in the upcoming year.

To celebrate our successes and to learn more, I invite you to join us at the BWAC Annual Meeting and dinner on February 6, at REI Bloomington.  Meet crew leaders, reconnect with your past crew members and hear Cary Griffith author of  “Lost in Wild” an incredible story of survival on the Powwow Trail.  Please RSVP today at https://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-BWCA-Trails/events/267188399/

Thank you for your commitment to BWCAW hiking trails. The passion and energy of BWAC volunteers is not only bringing back the Powwow Trail, but makes BWAC a reliable partner with the Forest Service, land manager for the Powwow Trail.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions at wtrails2@yahoo.com or at 651-214-5849 cell.

Regards,

Martin Kubik,  BWAC president and public servant, ESL