Powwow Biking Trail in the BWCA

The USFS doesn’t have enough money to take care of all of their needs. There’s nothing new about that story and the Boundary Waters isn’t the only place affected by the lack of funding. Why doesn’t the Forest Service get more money for maintaining the forests they manage for the public? I have no clue but the hiking trails in the BWCAW need help.

The windstorm of this past summer made hiking some of the Gunflint Trail hiking trails quite a bit more difficult. Trails that used to be easy to follow are now more difficult and that is at the expense of unprepared hikers and Search and Rescue Teams. There are trail clubs that work on sections of the hiking trails but there is only so much they can do. More volunteers or help from the USFS would be great especially in the case of the Powwow Trail.

There seems to be money available to create new bike trails in Minnesota. Wouldn’t it be easier to maintain a trail than to create an entirely new trail? An overnight biking trip in the BWCA, wouldn’t that be fun?

The article about the Powwow Trail says the fire responsible for making the Powwow Trail so difficult to travel was started by lightning. There was a lightning strike but the reason 92,000 acres were burned in the Pagami Creek Fire is because a USFS employee decided to use the opportunity to do a prescribed burn. That prescribed burn is what caused the fire that destroyed the Powwow Trail. The cost of the fire was over 21 million dollars.  Why doesn’t the USFS have money for maintaining the forests? It makes you wonder how many other million dollar mistakes are made.

If the bike trail idea doesn’t work then maybe they should make the Powwow Trail section of the BWCAW the Martin Kubik Wilderness Unit.  I think he and his group of trail volunteers could do just as good of a job, if not better, in keeping the Powwow Trail open.
Fighting for the Powwow Trail

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