News
Help Clear BWCAW Trails
The Boundary Waters Advisory Committee and friends are clearing hiking trails in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) during May. The committee is looking for volunteers to help with clearing work between Thursday, May 1 and Sunday, May 4. You do not have to commit for the whole four-day period.
Last year’s clearing project on the Brule Lake Trail provided excellent hiking for people on their way to Brule Lake and Eagle Mountain, Minnesota’s highest point. The mountaintop offers a spectacular view of the forests and lakes of canoe country, and on sunny days, Lake Superior. In appreciation of their efforts, the United States Forest Service displays a photo of the trail-clearing volunteers at the Brule Lake trailhead.
This year, volunteers will maintain the Brule Lake Trail and expand their efforts to another neighboring trail, increasing the recreational opportunities for visitors. The committee welcomes new volunteers. You can participate in planning meetings, train as a trail-clearing crew leader, or work in the woods in May. Planning meetings take approximately three to five hours per month, and resolve the trip logistics and preparations. The committee will hold a training session for crew leaders and interested volunteers in April, with a time and location to be announced. Previous experience is useful, but not required. Most importantly, volunteers are needed to clear trails for a two, three or four day detail.
The BWA Committee was founded by Martin Kubik in 2002 with the intent to preserve intrinsically beautiful historic hiking trails in the BWCA in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service. Martin Kubik is the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year award, Great Lakes Region, by the American Hiking Society in 2007.
If you want to help out, contact Martin Kubik, president, (651) 214-5849, email HELPclearEAGLEmtn@yahoo.com, or visit the committee’s website, www.bwac.homestead.com.
