Dear BWAC Volunteers and Friends,
As 2020 comes to a close, I want to thank each of you for supporting BWAC’s mission of advocating for and preserving BWCAW trails in the Superior National Forest. The dedication and warmth of our members was more apparent than ever during the unpredictable months of 2020. Whether you were able to join one of our work crews, were an administrative helper, walked a Boundary Waters trail in 2020, or spread the word about our nonprofit, thank you for paying forward to Boundary Waters trails.
Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC) 2020 highlights:
Early in the year, BWAC reorganized our Board of Directors and steering committee relationship to more clearly reflect our obligations as a healthy 501c3 Minnesota nonprofit. June saw another transition with the semi-retirement of BWAC president and founder, Martin Kubik.
Seventy of you attended the BWAC 2020 Annual Meeting and Dinner held February 6 at the Bloomington REI, featuring our annual report and keynote speaker Cary Griffith.
BWAC was unable to hold our traditional “y’all come” April orientation and spring training, but organizers scrambled to produce our first-ever virtual crew leader and crew member training modules. We did a darn good job: 2020 was another injury-free trail season with well-prepared backpackers and canoeists.
Seventy-two individuals—four times more than volunteered in all of 2016—registered for a spring work crew before StayHomeMN shut down the BWCAW and all trips were canceled.
The long-awaited Powwow Trail Hiker guide was published in print-on-demand format on the BWAC website, www.BoundaryWatersTrails.org.
Eager to be back in the woods, 88 volunteers—twenty-two work crews—swarmed the Powwow this summer and fall clearing brush and cutting treefall. The trail corridor you have cleared since 2012 is almost completely defined. Thanks in large part to our active website and facebook presence featuring trail conditions and news from the Powwow, nearly every work crew saw other hikers and backpackers using the trail.
An unseasonably warm November weekend allowed BWAC and the U.S. Forest Service to complete the Diana Lake bridge rebuild project, creating a safe (and dry) crossing for hikers.
The BWAC volunteer appreciation event was held December 2 and attended by nearly fifty BWAC members, volunteers, sponsors and USFS rangers. You can find a video replay of the event here. Door prizes were donated by Trailtopia™ Foods, Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Store, Keith Myrmel Maps, and BWAC member Rick Kloetzke.
Congratulations to BWAC shared drive and BWAC website manager, navigation boss, and crew leader Zach Thorson who received the 2020 BWAC volunteer of the year award. Thank you, Zach, for all you do!
BWAC has a modest annual budget but we do depend on trip registrations, donations, and corporate match volunteers for expenses such as tools, maps, printing, website hosting, etc. A shout out to employees of 3M, Medtronic, and EcoLab who chose to match their volunteer hours this year with a cash donation from their employer to BWAC. We are grateful and the dollars will be responsibly spent. Tax-exempt donations from individuals are always welcome and can be made through GiveMN or a check mailed to The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee, 309 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis MN 55454. No gift is too big or too small.
BWAC will be back with spring trips in 2021. I hope you can make time to join a crew. If you are a Meetup/Friends-of-BWCA-Trails member you will receive notifications of our events and volunteer opportunities. We plan to offer survey trips, clearing trips, and are looking forward to collaboration with our trail partner, the U.S. Forest Service, in re-opening campsites along the Powwow Trail.
Not everyone can volunteer every year or even more than once, but each of us can tell a neighbor or colleague about the remarkable trails in the BWCAW, and about the rewards of helping to preserve them. Share what you know about wilderness trails. If you are lucky enough to be part of a crew in 2021, trust that you will have a story to tell next December, “How I helped save a Boundary Waters hiking trail.”
Best wishes for a peaceful and Happy New Year,
Susan Pollock
President
and the BWAC Leadership Team
The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee