FINLAND, Minn. – The morning woke up dry and with promise. It was warming fast in the early sun, which set the North Shore's boreal tree line in sharp relief against an almost bluebird sky. It was outdoors weather, and good thing.
In the early light and quiet of May 13, a few dozen or more people huddled up in the parking lot of the Clair Nelson community center off Hwy. 7 for the day's instructions before grabbing maps, hard hats, loppers and hand saws. Then, in groups of four or five, they lit out for sections of the Superior Hiking Trail and almost eight hours of trail clearing.
This scene truly was the public in public land. Like the Kekekabic, Border Route and other well-known Minnesota footpaths in the region, the Superior trail survives — and thrives — on the backs of stewards like those who gathered over the course of three May weekends to help prepare it for hikers. It seems volunteer hands have never been more paramount.
All had arrived here at the behest of the Superior Hiking Association to burn their weekend clearing downed trees and brush from a section of the trail from the state's Caribou River wayside down to Split Rock. Volunteers had cleared nearly 60 miles the previous weekend near Schroeder, and some of the same people would go on to work 56 miles near Grand Marais on Memorial Day weekend.
Their actions are the crux of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship legislation that passed last November. Co-authored by Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minnesota, it put light on the necessity of volunteers like those in Finland to help agencies like the U.S. Forest Service accomplish its work. The legislation's key detail: The agency must come up with a plan to enlist even more volunteers in national forests, owing to a backlog in maintenance of upward of $314 million.
"It's great to have [legislation], but it really comes down to people on the ground," said Kris Reichenbach, a spokeswoman for the Superior National Forest, in Duluth.
"When people get involved, there is another level of ownership and caring about the resource, which is of definite value in itself, in addition to the great work that gets done," she said.
The trail association stands in that gap, and leans on a small staff and more than 300 volunteers annually to maintain the trail that courses 326 miles to the Canadian border. Beyond clearing, there also are boardwalks and bridges to mend, and this month, volunteers rerouted a section north of Gooseberry Falls. Volunteers also adopt sections of the trail or campsites, which they need to maintain and report back on twice a year, in June and October.