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Taking a break from work, part of the Tread Lightly cleanup crew gathered for a picture. From L-R: Eric Sands, Jeff Taylor, John McClure, Heidi Doo-Kirk and Scott Benolken. Photos courtesy of Scott Benolken
Over two days nine members of the local Tread Lightly Off-Roaders club cleaned more than 2,400 pounds of trash from the ditches of a county roadway.
“We also cleaned dispersed camp sites from the Arrowhead Trail to the Sawbill Trail along with gravel pits,” said local leader Scott Benolken.
To make the work possible Tread Lightly Off Roaders have a signed agreement with the United States Forest Service (USFS) for stewardship. “We just need to let them know when we are doing the cleanup,” Benolken said of the agreement.
“Ed Belmore, USFS law enforcement, came and met with us on Saturday morning, 13th of August,” Benolken said. “The national organization Tread Lightly supplied us with garbage bags, gloves and two large dumpsters (one at the Grand Marais Ranger station, North Shore Waste, and one at the Tofte station, Nelson Machine).”
The club tries to have two cleanup weekends a year, picking different roadways to remove refuse from. It is daunting work, but Benolken said the club is glad to help where it can.
The club also sponsors rides for wounded veterans once or twice a year. Veterans come from Minnesota and beyond the states border to take part in those memorable rides. Benolken said Tread Lightly Off Roaders is one of many family and service oriented Jeep, landrover and 4×4 touring clubs that have formed around the state.
Based in Grand Marais, Tread Lightly Off Roaders describes itself as “a civic minded club, dedicated to responsible off-roading.”
Since its inception half a dozen years ago the club has more than lived up to its dedication to responsible off-roading and taking part in civic minded activities.
Tread Lightly
The Tread Lightly program is a national program. Tread stands for:
Travel responsibly on roads and trails in permitted areas.
Respect the rights of others including private property owners and all recreational trail users, campers and others to allow then to enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed.
Educate yourself by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies, planning for your trip, taking recreation skills classes, and knowing how to use and operate your safety equipment.
Avoid sensitive areas such as meadows, lakeshores, wetlands, and streams.
Stay on designated routes.
Do your part by modeling appropriate behavior, leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species, and restoring degraded areas.
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