Payments to Counties
On October 3, 2008, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 was reauthorized as part of Public Law 11-343. The new Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Act has some significant changes. To implement the new law, the Forest Service requested states and counties to elect either to receive a share of the 25-percent rolling average payment or to receive a share of the Secure Rural Schools State (formula) payment. A county electing to receive a share of the State payment was requested to allocate between 15-20 percent of its share for one or more of the following purposes: projects under Title II of the Act; projects under Title III; or the Treasurer of the United States (county allocation). All three counties overlaying the Chippewa National Forest have allocated funds to Title II. A Resource Advisory Committee was nominated in 2009 and will begin operations in 2010 to recommend use of these funds to the National Forest.
Seven counties in Minnesota received a total of $12,496,515 from the Forest Service in 2009. Thye-Blatnik numbers apply to Superior National Forest wilderness only. In 2009, the BWCAW boundary was reappraised, raising Thye-Blatnik payments. Counties on the Chippewa National Forest received $2,240,639.
Discover the Edge of the Wilderness!
In 2005, an idea to create a destination point for travelers along the Highway 38 National Scenic Byway between Grand Rapids and Bigfork, Minnesota began to brew. The site would meet the needs of both Byway visitors and area residents, providing natural resource education, interpretation, and customer service. Tucked along the scenic highway, in the far northeast corner of the Chippewa National Forest, was the community of Marcell.
Four years later, on a beautiful September day, the Edge Of The Wilderness Discovery Center celebrated its Grand Opening to the applause of an appreciative community, four key partnership groups and Congressman Jim Oberstar.
September 2009 marked the culmination of four years of partnership work, grant writing and agreements between the Forest Service and Itasca County, Northern Itasca Joint Powers Board, Highway 38 Leadership Board and the Edge of the Wilderness Lodging Association. Their work transformed an outdated ranger station into a welcoming information and education center that focuses on diverse ecosystems and history.
Visitors are greeted by interpretive displays that reflect the blue tones of clear deep lakes and the dark greens of the boreal forest. "Welcome to the Edge of the Wilderness" is echoed in the birch and pine tree panels and warm greetings from Discovery Center staff. Since it opened in June 2009, the Marcell Discovery Center has welcomed over 2500 visitors. In November, Discovery Center partners received a Region 9 Honor Award for their work with the Center.
Lady Slipper Scenic Byway
The Chippewa National Forest developed a partnership with local citizens to mitigate and reduce impacts of a highway upgrade along 15 miles of the Lady Slipper Scenic Highway. The highway upgrade is necessary to improve safety and travel speed on an important corridor that provides the most direct route to recreational sites and businesses between U.S. Hwy. 2 and Blackduck, Minnesota.
The major objective of the partnership is to ensure that a population of several thousand Showy Lady's Slippers, the state flower of Minnesota, are not irreparably damaged or eliminated during the highway upgrade. The Pennington Orchid bog along this route is one of the most prolific producers of orchids in the upper Midwest.
A citizen's Scenic Byway Committee worked with local governments and landowners to provide education resources about the highway upgrade and the possible impact to the orchids. The partnership matches the resource mapping and ecological skills of the Forest Service, with the enthusiasm of local citizens. The Forest Service provided the GPS tools and personnel necessary to conduct flower location surveys, making maps of major orchid colonies along the highway.
Ash Seed and Elm Pollen
A summer spent poking into tree branches and gathering tiny seeds may not sound ideal, but the work is crucial to prepare for the possible destruction of Minnesota's ash trees from Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).
Chippewa National Forest crews are contributing to a University of Minnesota ash seed collection effort to proactively protect the genetic diversity of ash before arrival of the nonnative invasive Emerald Ash Borer. At risk in Minnesota are nearly 1 billion trees, roughly 6.4 percent of Minnesota's urban and wild forest. The Forest is coordinating this effort with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
The idea is to collect seeds of the at-risk ash trees and store them for 20 years, buying time to find a solution to EAB. Once entomologists figure out a way to control emerald ash borer, species can be reintroduced where they historically existed. EAB was discovered in 2002, and foresters have known that the insect would eventually make its way to Minnesota.
Seed gathering has a new urgency. In May 2009, EAB was found in St. Paul and 68 trees were quickly removed. Foresters are waiting to see if EAB turns up in the spring of 2010 when larvae burrow out of trees.
By collecting hundreds of seeds from each sample tree, researchers believe they should be able to meet demand from nurseries. Researchers will plant those ash trees over the next two decades.
Each seed holds the DNA, and if enough seeds are collected, researchers have a good representation of the genetic variation for that species. Members of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe have become key contributors to the project. Ash is prized for its flexibility in basket-making. Seeds that Band members collect will be stored and returned to the Tribe. Leech Lake Reservation includes 22,000 acres of forest, about one-third of it ash.
After cleaning and sorting, the collected seeds are sent to the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), a Department of Agriculture network of repositories established more than a century ago. Seed samples of wild and domestic plant species from around the world are stored here. A small sample of ash seed will be sent to the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The collection and preservation effort may allow science to help the ash tree, keeping it from the same fate as the American chestnut and American elm, which were nearly wiped out by non-native fungi. Disease resistant elms are beginning to come back after about 40 years, but it has taken a century for disease-resistant chestnuts to get a hopeful start. Imagine what a difference a seed store would have made for the American chestnut, or elm. Crews will continue ash seed collection in 2010 -- seems like a great way to spend the summer.
Prescribed Fire
Since the 1970's, Chippewa National Forest fire crews have completed annual prescribed burning projects. Favorable weather conditions in 2009 combined with firefighter expertise led to 15 separate days of prescribed burning in upland pine sites, lowland meadows, and upland openings throughout the Chippewa National Forest. During the 2009 season, a total of 2,348 acres of prescribed fire were completed on the Chippewa National Forest.
In addition to prescribed burn accomplishments, mechanical fuels treatments occurred on 15 different sites for a total of 490 acres. This included piling of downed woody debris with dozers, hand-cutting and piling of brush, dozer lines (or discing) of control lines for burn units, chipping treatment of slash piles (biomass), and chainsaw work. The fire crews also completed prep work on three upcoming prescribed fires sites.
While these activities are occurring, many members of the fire team are also involved with preparing new agreements for partnership opportunities, consulting with other prescribed fire partners, and assisting with national fire suppression efforts. Prescribed burning programs are worked on cooperatively with Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota DNR Forestry, county land offices and private landowners.
Every Thursday morning, Brenda or Kelcie would present a short 20-minute Ojibwe language lesson, teaching greetings, animals and pronounciations in Ojibwe. The programs will only continue to grow, thanks to Leech Lake Tribal College's STEM (Science, Technology, Environment, Math) program. Two other STEM students were hired on the Forest in 2009, working in recreation both in the field and with the District office.
Language programs were also offered at Camp Rabideau, through a partnership with Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Students participated in a two-day language immersion camp. Similar programs will be planned for 2010. The Forest also partnered with the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce to provide visitor information signs in both Ojibwe and English. As the seasons change, we see that this wonderful language component has added a cultural education link to visitor programs. The Forest will continue to build programs and community partnerships. Migwetch to all our partners and students who helped move this program forward.
Traveling Fish
The Pigeon River Fish Passage is one of fifteen Recovery Act projects on the Chippewa National Forest. This project is being done in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR), Midwest Glacial Lakes and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
The Pigeon River Fish Passage project will improve the overall health of the Lake Winnie watershed by providing passage for all aquatic organisms, including northern pike and yellow perch. Biologists hope to build long-term sustainability for natural spawning and improve hydrologic connections linking Lake Winnie to Upper, Middle and Lower Pigeon Lakes. This is an area of broad federal ownership, adjacent to a semi-primitive non-motorized area. The opportunity to improve and maintain watershed health here is good.
The USFS and partners will construct an escapement channel through the Pigeon Lake impoundment. The channel will be approximately 300 feet long and will be designed to allow passage of aquatic organisms.
The Pigeon River impoundment is one of 53 impoundments on the Chippewa National Forest. Creating impoundments was once considered a good habitat practice for declining waterfowl populations. Today, there is more understanding of the value of maintaining wetlands for their natural functions. Recently the Forest made a five year agreement with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe for maintenance of these structures.
Camp Rabideau Rises to Modern Day Challenge
Camp Rabideau operated as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp from 1935-1942, under President Roosevelt's New Deal program. Camp Rabideau is now a National Historic Landmark, representing the best preserved CCC camp in the nation.
Today, Camp Rabideau is again rising to meet a modern day challenge. The CCC camp will provide work and education to young adults through conservation-based service learning projects. This new project is called Rabideau Conservation Academy and Learning Center.
The 2008 pilot Conservation Academy and Learning Center endeavor was funded though grants from the Initiative and Blandin Foundations, along with partnerships with Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and the Minnesota Workforce Center through Workforce Investment Act funding.
The first youth group to overnight at Camp Rabideau since the 1930's were 33 youth and 8 adults conducting a week-long Ojibwe language immersion program while learning traditional cultural practices. Each day was filled with language classes, Indian art, fishing, canoeing, water safety, and traditional Indian cooking. The experience was such a success that the camp leaders plan to use it as a model for the future. The Camp Rabideau coordinator noted that Bois Forte was the location of Minnesota's first CCC Indian Development project of that era.
Later in the summer, more than a dozen youth workers accomplished a variety of maintenance projects at the CCC camp. For six weeks, the crew scraped and painted the buildings, stained the fishing pier, excavated an old CCC building foundation, and performed simple carpentry tasks. Off-site projects included maintenance at Benjamin Lake, assisting with GPS and mapping of showy lady slippers along the Lady Slipper Scenic Byway and trail work at Webster Lake. The youth were delighted to "star" in a Lakeland Public TV news clip about the youth work and Camp Rabideau.
The future will only get brighter for Camp Rabideau. In 2009, additional funding for restoration of key buildings came from the Recovery Act. Work will begin on the Recreation Hall and Mess Hall in 2010.