BWA Committee and Forest Service Celebrate 10 Years of the BWCAW Powwow Trail Restoration
Contact: Martin Kubik
Phone: 651-214-5849 c
Forest Center, Stony River Township, MN (17 miles from Isabella)
BWA Committee and Forest Service Celebrate 10 Years of the BWCAW Powwow Trail Restoration
WHAT: More than 40 people are expected to attend the 10-year anniversary of the restoration of the BWCAW Powwow Trail after the catastrophic Pagami Creek Fire of 2011. Forest Service officials and the BWA Committee organizers will speak at the event. Jon Benson, USFS and Martin Kubik, Founder of BWAC will jointly unveil new kiosk with Powwow Trail map and cake and hot beverages will be served. Martin Kubik will present a donation check for $1,000 to the BWA Committee. Participants will venture on a guided hike of the Powwow Trail after the ceremony.
WHY: In the aftermath of the Pagami Creek Fire in 2011, thousands of trees fell and blocked the Powwow Trail. Although the Forest Service maintained the trail until 2015, so many tree falls fell each year that it became impossible to hike the entire 30-mile-long wilderness trail. That’s when the BWA Committee, a Minnesota 501 (c) (3) all-volunteer nonprofit stepped in and began, using only hand saws and loppers, to maintain the hiking trail. After sawing and removing as many as 20,000 treefalls, the Powwow Trail is hike-able again today. The Forest Service has restored several campsites along the trail and in collaborative effort, the USFS and BWAC replaced worn out bridge at Diana Lake with locally sourced tamarack logs. Volunteers contributed more than 7,000 hours in past year in the trail clearing effort, valued at more than $200,000.
WHO: Martin Kubik BWA Committee and Kekekabic Trail Club founder; Susan Pollock, BWA Committee president; Shannon Rische, Superior National Forest Deputy Forest Supervisor; Jon Benson, USFS Wilderness Ranger; BJ Kohlsted, Pagami Creek Fire Lake County Emergency Mgr; Lake County SAR; Patrick Johnson, East Zone Fuels Specialist SNF–Fire Ecology in the Boreal Forest
WHEN: Saturday, October 30, 2021, 1 PM – 2:30 PM
WHERE: Forest Center, Stony River Township, MN (Isabella Lake parking lot, 17 miles from Isabella)
This will be a good opportunity for photo and video of Forest Service personnel and the volunteers.
