Newsletter

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BWHT Newsletter 

Volume 1 Number 1 

July 18, 2024 

Welcome to the first issue of the Boundary Waters Heritage Trails Newsletter. We are a 503c charitable non-profit incorporated in the State of Minnesota. We are interested in the historical aspect of the BWCA and Superior National Forest. Our Mission Statement describes what we are about: 

“To educate and preserve the history and heritage of  

wilderness trails as a resource for 

all future generations to experience and enjoy” 

Our purpose is to catalog the heritage trails that once existed as logging roads, fire tower trails, portages, traveled roads as well as de-commissioned trails that once existed throughout the Superior National Forest, including the BWCA. We hope to map as many as we can so those who wish to explore and experience the history of the past couple of centuries have a resource to serve as a guide.  

We began organizing this past winter and have spent the last few months putting together an organizational board, starting both a Facebook page and website, developing articles of incorporation, creating contacts with the Forest Service and other local historians, implementing short term goals and developing long term goals as well as beginning research into the rich history of northeast Minnesota. This newsletter is the first of a monthly update, letting the public know of our progress.  

We are currently starting a membership drive, hoping to add interested people to support our organization either financially by buying a membership or becoming involved as an active member. We do have welcome gifts in varying membership categories. Historians, researchers, those interested in writing or doing field work are all encouraged to become part of BWHT. We are also interested in corporate sponsors who may be interested in our group. More information on what we are about and becoming a member can be found on our website, www.bwheritagetrails.org or our Facebook page - search Boundary Waters Heritage Trails. 

Research conducted this summer includes time spent at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm, Minnesota and access to the J. Wm. Trygg collections, both in Ely and at the Discovery Center. We have conducted interviews with USFS personnel and are setting up interviews with members of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. Future contacts hope to include local realtors as well as old-time loggers who both hold a large cache of information about the area, particularly from the past 75 years.  

A recent field trip was documented by a video called “Jackpine Mountain Fire Tower”. It was featured in a recent online video section of the Ely Echo Newspaper. It can also be seen on YouTube under that title. 

If you are interested in more information or have questions you can check our website or contact us at: martin.kubik@bwheritagetrails.org