Our Stories

National Trails Day work to “spiff up” the NCT in MN’s Chippewa N.F.

A small group of folks participated in a workday held on National Trails Day with the goal of ATV proofing a section of the North Country Trail within the Chippewa National Forest.  Working were Brian, Barb, and Audrey Pavek of Maple Grove, MN; Matt Davis of Detroit Lakes, MN; and Tom Schackman and Mitch Bouchonville of the Chippewa National Forest’s Walker Ranger District.   We worked on removing ATV ruts and controlling erosion on the section east of the Milton Lake Boat Landing.  Last September for National Public Lands Day we had worked on blockading this section from ATVs.  We also blocked ATV access points and removed ATV ruts by FR 2321B (visit the Wiki Guide for more on this section).

Another group of NCTA volunteers spent National Trails Day nearby working on improving their adopted section.  This group included Tom & Mary Moberg from Fargo, ND and Katie Blau from Remer, MN.  Afterwards, most of the group convened at Frosty’s in Longville for an ice cream treat.

This work was part of a larger effort to deter ATVs from riding on the NCT within the Chippewa National Forest and also to have volunteers adopt all of the 68 miles within “the Chip.”  Currently, we have about half of the trail adopted by volunteers.