New Year Message to BWAC Volunteers
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.
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
Volunteers Are Making Progress to Restore the Powwow Hiking Trail in BWCAW
“Backpackers and hunters alike have prized the Powwow Trail for its solitude and number of campsites that can’t be reached by a canoe. This year, on the 40th anniversary of the BWCA Wilderness Act of 1978, volunteers are working hard to make this legacy trail hikeable again for our and future generations,” said Martin Kubik, founder and president of the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWA Committee).
While most people think of the Boundary Waters as a haven for canoeists, fewer are aware that BWCAW has more than 200 miles of backpacking trails. One such trail is the 30 mile long Powwow Hiking Trail near Isabella. Although most of the trail burned down in the August 2011 Pagami Creek Fire, it is making a comeback thanks to volunteers working with the US Forest Service.
After the fire, the Powwow Trail was cleared by the Forest Service and the Minnesota Conservation Corps in 2012. Since then thousands of dead, charred trees fell over the path. In seven years, hundreds of young jack pines have grown five to eight feet tall, obscuring rock cairns and making the Powwow Trail impassable by even expert hikers.
“Backpackers and hunters alike have prized the Powwow Trail for its solitude and number of campsites that can’t be reached by a canoe. This year, on the 40th anniversary of the BWCA Wilderness Act of 1978, volunteers are working hard to make this legacy trail hikeable again for our and future generations,” said Martin Kubik, founder and president of the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWA Committee).
Indeed, close to one hundred volunteers, including a crew sponsored by Frost River, Duluth, have cleared more than two thirds of the 30 mile trail, removing several thousand treefalls with hand saws and loppers from the path. The organization plans five more trips this fall and hopes to make a clean sweep through the entire trail. For more information contact Martin Kubik, 651-564-8279 or email to: wtrails2@yahoo.com
BWA Committee is a 501 c3 non profit organization with a mission “to preserve the existing, historic and intrinsically beautiful hiking trails in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the Superior National Forest.” Its members volunteered on Kekekabic, Sioux Hustler, Brule Lake and Eagle Mtn. trails, and more recently on the Powwow Trail.
Martin Kubik, a long time BWCAW trails advocate, is a retired engineer from 3M, St. Paul. He is a founder of the Kekekabic Trail Club, the 3M Outdoor Club, BWA Committee and recipient of several outdoor leadership and volunteering awards.
Wilderness Backpacking Kickoff
Event kicks off the 2018 hiking season in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Keynote speaker, Jason Zabokrtsky, will present on bushwacking the Boundary Waters without a boat, an 80+ mile point to point off-trail hike through the Quetico and BWCA.
Boundary Waters Advisory Committee hosts 2018 wilderness backpacking kickoff, honoring the 40th anniversary of the signing of the 1978 BWCA Wilderness Act
WHAT: Event kicks off the 2018 hiking season in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Keynote speaker, Jason Zabokrtsky, will present on bushwacking the Boundary Waters without a boat, an 80+ mile point to point off-trail hike through the Quetico and BWCA.
WHO: BWAC is a Minnesota non-profit established in 2002 with the Mission “To preserve historical and intrinsically beautiful trails in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the Superior National Forest.”
WHERE: Camp Sacajawea Retreat Center, Lebanon Hills, 5121 McAndrews Rd, Apple Valley, MN
WHEN: Saturday, March 10, 2018, 12:00 to 3:00 pm.
WHY: Increase awareness of the history and condition of hiking trails in the BWCA Wilderness and celebrate 40 years of hiking history.
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS:
Jason Zabokrtsky, Founder, Ely Outfitting Company
Martin Kubik, President, Boundary Waters Advisory Committee
Susan Pollock, Vice President, BWAC and Trail Stewardship Crew Leader
BWAC Celebrates 15 Years of Hiking Trail Stewardship, Education and Advocacy
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC) 15th anniversary celebration kicks off with talk from noted author Stephen Wilbers. The event was well attended including representatives from allied hiking trails and clubs including the Kekekabic Trail Chapter of North County Trail, Border Route Trail Association, 3M Outdoor Club and Wilderness in the City. The event emphasized the value of wilderness spaces and the importance of preserving them.
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC) 15th anniversary celebration kicks off with talk from noted author Stephen Wilbers. The event was well attended including representatives from allied hiking trails and clubs including the Kekekabic Trail Chapter of North County Trail, Border Route Trail Association, 3M Outdoor Club and Wilderness in the City. The event emphasized the value of wilderness spaces and the importance of preserving them.
BWAC has spent the past 15 years protecting wilderness spaces by performing trail stewardship and advocacy. Since it’s inception in 2002, BWAC has organized more than 100 trail clearing trips involving over 500 volunteers to preserve wilderness trails in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Over it’s lifetime BWAC has maintained almost every major trail in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
BWAC was founded by Martin Kubik whose interest in wilderness trail stewardship dates back to the 1980’s when a retired outfitter, Bill Rom from Ely, posted an award of $500 to anyone who would clear the interior 20 miles of the 40 mile long abandoned Kekekabic Trail. The award went to the Kekekabic Trail Club, led by Martin Kubik, after he organized more than 100 volunteers to clear over 3000 tree falls and reopen the Kekekabic Trail. At the BWAC 15th anniversary event, Kubik along with other BWAC board members, honored Bill Rom by contributing $2000 to save another trail, the Pow Wow Trail, which burned and became impassible after the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire.
To support the trail and protect wilderness spaces the “Partnership to Reopen the Pow Wow Trail” was announced during the event. This partnership is a consortium of volunteer organizations, outdoor businesses and corporations that support reopening the Pow Wow Trail to make it passable once again.
“Returning the Powwow trail in the Boundary Waters to a safe and navigable path for future generations is an ambitious but doable task. Our all-volunteer nonprofit invites everyone, from college clubs to outfitters to businesses and others, to join our Partnership to Reopen the Powwow Trail. More volunteers, more feet on the tread, and more people learning about this trail's place in history creates a more valuable hiking experience.” - Susan Pollock, Vice President, Boundary Waters Advisory Committee.
About Boundary Waters Advisory Committee
Founded in 2002, The Boundary Water Advisory Committee (BWA Committee) promotes the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the backpacking and hiking trails of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the Superior National Forest. BWA Committee helps hikers to explore and develop a deep appreciation of the natural world. More information is available online at http://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-BWCA-Trails/ or by contacting Martin Kubik at wtrails2@yahoo.com
With more than 800 members in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the BWA Committee offers low cost wilderness backpacking trips with emphasis on safety, Leave No Trace philosophy and deep appreciation of nature.
Volunteers Clear Hiking Trail in Boundary Waters in Time for National Trails Day
Minneapolis, Minnesota – At their own expense, spending personal vacation days and driving over 400 miles round trip, three crews of nine people each, spent several days in the BWCA clearing the Pow Wow Trail in May to open the trail for the AHS National Trails Day. Trail stewardship volunteers performed the difficult work of removing the hundreds of trees that fall across the trail each year using only hand tools, large pruning shears and hand saws. The work was made tougher due to the large number of tree falls from the Pagami creek fire which occurred six years ago.
Minneapolis, Minnesota – At their own expense, spending personal vacation days and driving over 400 miles round trip, three crews of nine people each, spent several days in the BWCA clearing the Pow Wow Trail in May to open the trail for the AHS National Trails Day. Trail stewardship volunteers performed the difficult work of removing the hundreds of trees that fall across the trail each year using only hand tools, large pruning shears and hand saws. The work was made tougher due to the large number of tree falls from the Pagami creek fire which occurred six years ago.
“The forest will come back without the help of volunteers. But not the trail. In fact, the trail will be consumed by the new forest and lost forever if not for your efforts.” Dan Handke, BWAC Crew Leader
The BWAC trail clean up crews completed clearing the USFS approved "Section 1" of the Pow Wow Trail. BWAC is steadily progressing towards its goal to clear the entire Pow Wow next year on the 40th anniversary of the BWCA Wilderness Act of 1978.
The Pow Wow Trail was adopted by Fournier Outdoor Services in February 2016. Trail clearing is also made possible by our sponsors. BWAC appreciates the sponsorship of Buck's Hardware and Lake Superior Trading Post in Grand Marais and that of Kawishiwi Lodge at Ely. Thanks also goes to 3M, Thrivent Financial, Best Buy, and outdoor industry sponsors Midwest Mountaineering, Marmot, Outdoor Research, Smartwool, Cascade Designs, Steripen and Katadyn.
During this National Trails Day, remember the hard work of the dedicated volunteers working to keep these trails open to all.
About Boundary Waters Advisory Committee
Founded in 2002, The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWA Committee) promotes the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the backpacking and hiking trails of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the Superior National Forest. BWA Committee helps hikers to explore and develop a deep appreciation of the natural world. More information is available online at http://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-BWCA-Trails/ or by contacting Martin Kubik at wtrails2@yahoo.com
With more than 700 members in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the BWA Committee offers low cost wilderness backpacking trips with emphasis on safety, Leave No Trace philosophy and deep appreciation of nature.
BWCA Wilderness Backpackers Hold "Kickoff" Workshop at Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Minneapolis, Minnesota - Close to fifty backpackers and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) enthusiasts spent an afternoon together last weekend at the beautiful Camp Sacajawea Retreat Center, tucked into the trails and woods of Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Veteran trail advocates captivated the audience with presentations on the North Country Trail, the Kekekabic Trail, the Border Route Trail, the Powwow Trail, and an educational slide show, “What Happens on a Trail Clearing Trip.” Listeners learned about trail conditions, plans for volunteer clearing trips, and were encouraged to get out and hike some of the over 200 miles of BWCAW trails. The event was sponsored by the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC), a non-profit all-volunteer organization established in 2002 to promote BWCAW trails through advocacy, education of the public, and organizing trail clearing trips in Minnesota’s wilderness.
Minneapolis, Minnesota - Close to fifty backpackers and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) enthusiasts spent an afternoon together last weekend at the beautiful Camp Sacajawea Retreat Center, tucked into the trails and woods of Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Veteran trail advocates captivated the audience with presentations on the North Country Trail, the Kekekabic Trail, the Border Route Trail, the Powwow Trail, and an educational slide show, “What Happens on a Trail Clearing Trip.” Listeners learned about trail conditions, plans for volunteer clearing trips, and were encouraged to get out and hike some of the over 200 miles of BWCAW trails. The event was sponsored by the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC), a non-profit all-volunteer organization established in 2002 to promote BWCAW trails through advocacy, education of the public, and organizing trail clearing trips in Minnesota’s wilderness.
Matt Davis, Regional Trail Coordinator for the Minnesota and North Dakota Chapter of the North Country Trail Association, gave the keynote address. The North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) crosses seven states from North Dakota to New York. Minnesota includes long sections of the most premier wilderness hiking along the 4500 mile footpath: the Border Route Trail and the Kekekabic Trail. The Kekekabic trail was an abandoned fire-fighter footpath connecting the Gunflint Trail and Snowbank lake when visionary Martin Kubik, now BWAC President, organized volunteers to clear it 1990. It has been cleared by volunteers every year since then, and now, more than a quarter century later, is a foundation for routing the National Scenic NCT through the BWCAW.
Davis described how severe 2016 summer storms left some sections of long distance trails in the Boundary Waters impassable. The U.S. Forest Service is taking steps to clear a number of stricken trails in 2017 with crews from other states, and volunteers from the NCT’s Kekekabic Trail and Border Route Trail Associations and the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee, in collaboration with the Forest Service, are organizing volunteers now for spring trips to clear the damaged trails.
"It was fantastic to see so much interest in the hiking trails of the Boundary Waters from a diverse group,” Davis enthused after the kickoff event. “Many BWCAW trails desperately need more 'boots on the ground' and the Kekekabic and Border Route Trails need more trail clearing volunteers to help keep this vital unofficial link in the North Country National Scenic Trail open. Hopefully Congress will do its job this year and pass the legislation that would officially take the NCT up the North Shore and through the Boundary Waters as they are very fitting locations for a National Scenic Trail. Thanks to the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee for pulling together such a great program."
Keeping the trails open can be challenging. For example, the Powwow Trail has more than 6,000 tree falls on the thirty mile trail, an undesirable legacy of the Pagami Creek Fire of 2011. “That’s equivalent to twenty to forty times an average annual treefall rate as a result of the fire. We can recruit volunteers, but what we really need is to train more crew leaders. Crew leaders need wilderness, safety and people skills to do the job well,” says Kubik. Kubik is encouraged by the recent passage of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act, HR 845. “There is terrific potential with the new law that should help address cooperation between the Forest Service and established volunteer groups,” said Kubik.
Keeping the trails open can also be rewarding. The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee is excited to be introducing hikers to the unique Powwow Trail and the opportunity to experience the post-fire environment. “Each year since the fire, visits to the Powwow Trail reveal more and different healthy growth. Initially we saw fireweed and asters, then the jack pine, and in 2016 the feathery juvenile black spruce appeared. This chance to walk the tread and to watch the boreal forest regenerate is a gift,” said Rebecca Powell, BWAC member who was presented with the 2016 BWAC Volunteer of the Year at the Kickoff event. Rebecca should know: she has fifteen years’ experience with BWAC and wilderness trails and, she says, “the multitude of dedicated volunteers I continue to meet who work to preserve our BWCAW trails. Volunteering for a trail clearing crew is not a small commitment, but I have never met a crew member who didn’t enjoy their time on trail, and the satisfaction of restoring even a small section.”
About Boundary Waters Advisory Committee
Founded in 2002, The Boundary Water Advisory Committee (BWA Committee) promotes the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the backpacking and hiking trails of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the Superior National Forest. BWA Committee helps hikers to explore and develop a deep appreciation of the natural world. More information is available online at http://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-BWCA-Trails/ or by contacting Martin Kubik at wtrails2@yahoo.com.
With more than 700 members in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the BWA Committee offers low cost wilderness backpacking trips with emphasis on safety, Leave No Trace philosophy and deep appreciation of nature.
BWAC Requests Formal Priority Area Designation for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Trail
Minneapolis, Minnesota – In response to new federal law H.R. 845, the National Forest Systems Trails Stewardship Act, The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee submitted a formal request to the Secretary of Agriculture asking that Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trails and the Pow Wow Trail in particular, be designated as a priority area for maintenance. H.R. 845 directs the USDA to publish a strategy to significantly increase the role of volunteers and partners in trail maintenance and allows selection of specific areas to be designated as priority areas.
Minneapolis, Minnesota – In response to new federal law H.R. 845, the National Forest Systems Trails Stewardship Act, The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee submitted a formal request to the Secretary of Agriculture asking that Boundary Waters Canoe
Area Wilderness trails and the Pow Wow Trail in particular, be designated as a priority area for maintenance. H.R. 845 directs the USDA to publish a strategy to significantly increase the role of volunteers and partners in trail maintenance and allows selection of specific areas to be designated as priority areas.
BWCAW trails and the Pow Wow Trail in particular meet all criteria for selection as a “priority area”. These criteria include areas where the lack of trail maintenance has reduced access to public land; led to an increase, or risk of increase, in harm to natural resources; jeopardized public safety; resulted in trails being impassible by the intended managed users; or increased future deferred trail maintenance costs.
The Pow Wow Trail was heavily damaged in the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire which burned 92,000 acres of land including the majority of the Pow Wow Trail. The fire left large quantities of burned and dead trees standing along the trail corridor that continue to fall and block the trail. Rapid regrowth of vegetation is now threatening to make the trail impassible to hikers. Clearing the young overgrowth now is needed to avoid a much larger task when the overgrowth matures.
“The Pow Wow Trail is an incredible hiking trail that combines historic origins that span a century – from the logging days to the BWAC Wilderness act that gave birth to this legacy trail. Few people know that BWCAW has more than 200 miles of hiking trails, and the Pow Wow Trail is prized by hikers for its solitude and campsites that are away from canoe routes. We are thankful for the many man hours of work on this trail by the Kekekabic Trail Chapter of the North Country Trail and the Fournier Outdoor Services. Their hard work is keeping this trail open to hikers.”
Designation as a priority area will allow local, federal and volunteer organizations to work together and provide resources to restore the Pow Wow Trail to a safe and passable condition so that it may once again attract trail users to visit this once beautiful and historic trail. “To date only one campsite has been restored five years after the fire.
There is much more work to be done to conserve this trail popular with hikers before the Pagami Creek Fire.” The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee stands ready to work with local and federal agencies to help restore this historic trail.
About Boundary Waters Advisory Committee
Founded in 2002, The Boundary Water Advisory Committee (BWA Committee) promotes the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the backpacking and hiking trails of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the Superior National Forest.
BWA Committee helps hikers to explore and develop a deep appreciation of the natural world. More information is available online at http://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-BWCA-Trails/ or by contacting Martin Kubik at wtrails2@yahoo.com
With more than 700 members in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the BWA Committee offers low cost wilderness backpacking trips with emphasis on safety, Leave No Trace philosophy and deep appreciation of nature.