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.
Press Release: Duluth Chapter Events
BWAC News Release 2023
For Immediate Release:
March 21, 2023
Trail clearing workshops to learn about Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness hiking trail work with an opportunity to volunteer on a trip to Eagle Mountain this spring.
Open to the public:
What: Our BWCA Hiking and Backpacking Trails (and what’s in my pack?)
When: Wednesday, April 5, 6-7:30 pm
Place: Frost River, 1910 W. Superior St. Duluth
What: Volunteer wilderness trail safety and standards training
When: Thursday April 20, 6-7:30 pm
Place: Frost River, 1910 W. Superior St. Duluth
——After Training——
Saturday May 6 all day: Eagle Mountain Trail clearing day trip with BWAC and Frost River
Exciting Spring news from the Duluth chapter of the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee.
Thanks to successful work, BWAC was recently given a new opportunity - the responsibility to maintain the Eagle Mountain Trail in Northeast Minnesota. The group is asking you to join them on the trail.
BWAC has been working in the BWCA for the last twenty years to reopen the heavily damaged Powwow Trail. That trail had been ravaged by the Pagami Creek wildfire in 2011. Since that time, BWAC volunteers have been hiking deep into the wilderness to clean up literally thousands of charred deadfalls that blocked the 30 mile hiking trail each spring after winter storms, using only hand saws.
New this year the U.S. Forest Service has expanded the BWA Committee’s charter to do more trail work in the wilderness, the Eagle Mountain and Sioux Hustler trails.
Eagle Mountain is the most visited trail in the Boundary Waters, so it is a privilege that the Forest Service expanded BWAC’s operating area to include Eagle Mountain.
The summit is the highest point in Minnesota and remained unknown until the 1960’s when the peak was discovered as the state’s tallest at 2,301 feet above sea level and only 15 miles from Minnesota’s lowest elevation, Lake Superior at 600 feet.
“Martin Kubik will share photos, maps, stories and more about the Kekekabic, Powwow, Sioux Hustler and Eagle Mountain/Brule Lake trails.”
The April 5 presentation will also include a hiking Mini Workshop: Tiffanie Ellis will show "What's in My Pack", gear and clothing items for a safe day trip in the Boundary Waters wilderness.”
Reporters will like the visual of Tiffanie’s pack.
Presenters Bios:
Martin Kubik is the founder of the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWA Committee) and the Kekekabic Trail Club. He is a lifelong advocate for the BWCAW hiking trails and recipient of several environmental awards. Retired after a 39 year career at 3M Co., Martin enjoys hiking, outdoor adventures and sewing camping gear.
Tiffanie Ellis, is a middle school teacher in Duluth and member of the Duluth Chapter of the BWA Committee. She is an avid BWCAW backpacker and volunteer maintenance crew leader for the BWA Committee.
Rob Bowe has been an avid outdoorsman for several years, exploring the Adirondacks, and Algonquin mountains to desert canyons in Colorado, and now the Boundary Waters and Quetico. He is retired from a 33 year IT career, and teaches Yoga when he's not helping out BWAC.
BWAC - The Boundary Advisory Committee is a nonprofit 501(c)3 volunteer organization with active chapters in Duluth and the Twin Cities. It was founded in 2001 by Martin Kubik who also started the Kekekabic Trail Club. The BWA Committee works under volunteer service agreement with the USDA Forest Service. In 2022 BWAC volunteers contributed more than 9,000 hours worth more than quarter million dollars to maintain the Powwow Trail in the Superior National Forest.
Details on all these events can be found at:
Duluth Chapter of BWAC (Duluth, MN) | Meetup
https://www.meetup.com/Duluth-Chapter-of-BWAC/
For more information:
Press contact: Martin Kubik
Email: martin.kubik@boundarywaterstrails.org
Cell: 651-214-5849 c
Events contact:
Email: duluthchapter@boundarywaterstrails.org
US Forest Service and BWA Committee Celebrate 10 Years of BWCAW Powwow Trail Restoration on October 30
Volunteer Group to clear on the BWCAW Powwow Trail Again This Spring
Volunteer Group Declares BWCAW Powwow Trail Rescued; More Work Ahead.
“We were pleasantly surprised after tallying tree falls along the 30 miles long wilderness trail,” said Susan Pollock, BWAC’s new president. “We counted only 1,300 tree falls across the trail, and even more rewarding for our volunteers, we met three groups of backpackers along the way. We expected to find double that number of tree falls. Meeting backpackers on the trail interior--unheard of in the past five years--is a testimonial to BWAC work crews finding and clearing the impassable path over many seasons.”
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.