Arrowhead Re-route
Arrowhead Re-route Legislation Update!
Despite great efforts by our champions including Representative James Oberstar and Senator Amy Klobuchar, we were unsuccessful in getting the Arrowhead reroute passed in the last Congress. Now in the 112th Congress, we have asked Rep. Chip Cravaack (MN-8th District) to re-introduce the legislation. He has refused to do so and we (the NCTA) will be pursuing other options.
Below is the full text of the suggested legislation…
Section 5(a)(8) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)(8)) is amended as follows:
(1) by striking “thirty-two hundred miles” and inserting “4600 miles”; and
(2) by striking “’Proposed North Country Trail” and all that follows through “June 1975.” And inserting “’North Country National Scenic Trail, Authorized Route’, dated February 16, 2005, and numbered 649/80,002.”.
Here’s a link to the map that is referenced.
We expect Sens. Klobuchar and Franken to also introduce the bill in the Senate. The NCTA would like to obtain the support of our seven state’s entire Congressional delegation. See instructions below for how you can help.
What is the Arrowhead Re-route?
The Arrowhead Re-route is an effort to officially designate a revised route for the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) in northeastern Minnesota. This change, which requires the approval of Congress, would replace a 100-mile stretch of trail route identified in the National Park Service’s 1982 Comprehensive Plan for Management and Use of the North Country Trail. The 1982 route lies between Jay Cooke State Park southeast of Duluth and the eastern end of the NCT in the Chippewa National Forest near Remer. Since the NCT was authorized by Congress in 1980, there have been no efforts to construct trail along this route because it contains extensive wetlands. It also lacks the outstanding scenery found along the Arrowhead Re-route.
Minnesota hiking and trail advocates proposed using the Superior Hiking Trail, Border Route Trail, and Kekekabic Trail as components of a more feasible and scenic alternative to the originally planned route. The new route was evaluated and identified as the “preferred alternative” in the National Park Service’s “Northeastern Minnesota Route Assessment,” approved in September 2004. The revised route would be approximately 500 miles long (about 400 miles longer than the original route) and be located in exemplary “North Country” areas with world-class scenery, including Lake Superior’s North Shore and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Over 375 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail, Border Route Trail, and Kekekabic Trail would be incorporated into the new route. The NCTA anticipates approximately 140 miles of new trail construction to link Ely and Remer, Minnesota.
For a lot more background information, visit the National Park Service’s North Country National Scenic Trail web site to download the Northeastern Minnesota Route Assessment and Environmental Assessment.
- Check this site often and/or visit and “Like” our Arrowhead Re-route Facebook page for the latest updates.
- If you live outside of Minnesota’s 8th District or in a different state, please contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and ask them to support the NCT’s Arrowhead Re-route. Go to writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml and put in your Zip code and visit senate.gov to contact your Senators via their websites or to find their office contact information. You can call or email their DC office or any of their local offices.
To obtain more information or answers to any specific questions you may have about this issue, contact Matthew Davis at (701) 388-1883 /davis@northcountrytrail.org.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d like to help on the Arrowhead Re-Route
Mark
Jackson Michigan
Sierra Club member
I’m calling the Senate the House and the President and since the First Lady is a fitness advacate I’m seening her a letter to telling them all how I a disabled Vet hiked 2180+ miles of the A.T. and lost 50 lbs. and that we need these trails some outhers to can get out and off their butts and enjoy this beautiful country
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