Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) cross country skiers were saddened this past winter when they learned the Banadad Trail was blocked by downed trees and brush which meant they couldn’t ski much of the famed trail.
Although a volunteer crew had worked diligently in the fall to get the trail ready for winter, an early December 2015 storm dumped a combination of heavy, wet snow and rain that coated trees and brush in thick ice. Although beautiful, many of the trees and much brush broke and toppled, blocking trails throughout the county.
While most of the routes were cleared by snowmobile clubs, cross country ski clubs and volunteers, the remote Banadad suffered too much damage and couldn’t be opened this winter.
In light of that, the Banadad Trail Association (BTA) asked the Cook County Board of Commissioners to partner in an effort to secure $8,000 in cleanup funds from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which the board agreed to do on March 8, 2016.
Should the grant be secured, the association will either hire local people or work with the Minnesota Conservation Corps (MCC) to hike in, camp and clear the 13.1 miles of trails located in the BWCAW.
The goal is to trim tree branches to a height of 14 feet and clear the trail to a width of 8 feet. All of the work will take place in the BWCA, which means that no power tools can be used on the job.
Border Route lease approved
Once again the county board signed a maintenance agreement with the Border Route Trail Association, which has agreed to maintain the 65-mile-long hiking trail that crosses though the BWCAW along the U.S. and Canadian borders. The county leases the property the trail crosses from the DNR and pays the lease fee and insurance on the portion of trail in the DNR’s jurisdiction.
ATV trail grant-in-aid approved
Commissioners also approved a resolution for the county to serve as the fiscal agent for the Minnesota DNR Trails Assistance Program for the Hovland Woods ATV trail in the amount of $2,200. If awarded, Auditor Braidy Powers and Board Chair Heidi Doo-Kirk will be authorized to sign all agreements related to the grant-in-aid funds. Matching funds for the grant are provided by the Cook County ATV Club in volunteer labor used to maintain the ATV trail.
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