4/17/2020 – We are a small, family run business. One of the best parts of our job is connecting with everyone who visits our corner of the world. We are so eager for the day we can welcome you all back to Sawbill and the BWCA Wilderness. In the meantime, we are so thankful to each of you who have reached out, offered support, or ordered from our online store. We are still here answering the phone and responding to emails, so please don’t hesitate to reach out.  

There are several updates today from both the USFS and the State of Minnesota concerning the BWCA Wilderness, National Forests, recreation and recreation businesses. 

USFS (all restrictions are in place until further notice): 
 1. All camping on the Superior National Forest (and Chippewa National Forest) is prohibited until further notice. This includes in both developed campgrounds and dispersed camping. 
2. Entering or being upon a developed campground or outhouse is prohibited. Forest roads, hiking trails and boat ramps are open unless they are within campgrounds. (We are seeking additional clarification on the issue of boat ramps within campgrounds.)
3. All fires are banned on the Forest.
4.  Group size for any activity on the Forest is limited to 10 people.

As a reminder, earlier this week the USFS announced that the BWCA Wilderness is closed to all use until May 4. No day use, no overnight camping. This restriction is intended to coincide with Governor Walz’s Stay at Home Order. 

State of Minnesota (all restrictions to coincide with Stay at Home Order, currently set to expire May 4):
1. When recreating, people should stay close to home, and are strongly encouraged to avoid unnecessary travel, or traveling long distances to engage in outdoor recreation. 
2. Many outdoor activities are specifically allowed, including boating, fishing, biking and hiking. 
3. Campgrounds are to be closed. No dispersed camping.
4. Outdoor gear retail and rental businesses should remain closed.
5. Bait shops and facilities that provide food and beverage for off premises consumption may be open at this time.

Sawbill’s Plan:
During this interim period of closures, we are developing a COVID-19 specific sanitation and operation plan for the three campgrounds that we manage. If this plan is approved by the Forest Service, the campgrounds may be allowed to operate once the Stay at Home Order is lifted. 
We are also putting together a robust operations plan designed to promote social distancing and limit face to face contact. This plan will be designed to best protect both our staff and the visiting public. It will likely include: all gear rental transactions / interactions to occur outdoors; a window / “curbside” shopping experience for our store; enhanced gear cleaning and sanitation practices; and more. 
We will continue to provide updates as we receive them. We appreciate everyone’s patience during this time. We also appreciate your understanding of our modified operations. It is of utmost importance to us that we are protecting our staff, visitors and our surrounding community when/if the time comes to open up for business.

-Dan

4/17/20 – Every once in a while I find myself diving down the rabbit hole that is our online newsletter (started back in 1997). I found some gems yesterday and thought I would share one of my favorites. Stay tuned for more archival goodness in posts to come. -Jessica

8/27/05 – After 49 years, Sawbill finally receives the fame it deserves, and with any luck, fortune will soon follow. It recently came to our attention that Sawbill Canoe Outfitters is currently highlighted on the homepage of an internationally recognized website. Yahoo, MSN, the New York Times are all good guesses, but no. Sawbill’s spotless bathrooms are highlighted on the homepage of www.restroomratings.com. A customer, with an eye for detail and an interest in public bathrooms, wrote a review of Sawbill’s sparkling thrones.
The weekend has been busy and our dwindling crew has been kept on their toes all week. I would like to think we have restroomratings.com to thank for the influx in canoeists, but others have given credit to the warm and sunny weather, good fishing, and the fact that school is about to start.
For those few newsletter readers who remain unimpressed by our dominance of the World Wide Web perhaps the feature article in Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine titled “Phoenix Goes Canoeing” will catch your attention. The photo filled article, written by crew member Pat Nash’s sister, is sure to send a pile of greyhound owners to Sawbill next summer. Sunny and Homer are basking in the starlight, “Most important the campground is dog friendly. In fact, they have two resident, one-eyed Golden Retrievers, Sunny and Homer.”
So I hope this is fair warning to all of our loyal readers. Remember to make your reservation well in advance because you never know how many bathroom loving Grey Hound owners will flock to Sawbill this Fall.

4/15/2020 – The Forest Service has issued a press release detailing many items regarding the upcoming quota permit season for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The full press release can be found below.

Highlights include:
1. The BWCA Wilderness is closed to all activities effective today, April 15, through May 4. This includes both day use and overnight trips. All reservation and use fees will be refunded for permits already reserved May 1-4. The Boundary Waters will re-open on May 5.

2. More specific guidance for self-issuing wilderness permits. Customers may print their confirmation email to use as their permit. A copy of the confirmation email is required to be in each canoe of a group. For customers who have designated Sawbill as their permit issuing station, we will email a link to the educational videos to watch from home prior to your trip. Your confirmation email is sent directly from the Forest Service at the time of reservation and again 7 days prior to the start of your trip.

3. Many cooperators, including Sawbill, will still be physically open to issue same-day permits and to print permits for groups that do not print their confirmation emails.

4. The Forest Service has created a hotline phone/email specifically for BWCA information and questions (218-626-4395 or email SM.FS.R9_SNF_BWCAW@usda.gov) They are also directing people to the Superior National Forest website’s “alert” section (https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/superior/home)

We will continue to provide updates as they become available. Be sure to reach out with any questions. We are planning to be open and renting canoes. Our operations will be modified, especially in the early part of the season, so bear with us as we balance providing outfitting services and doing our best to remain Covid neutral.

-Dan

Complete Press Release:

4/14/2020 –

1. The USFS is going to cancel and refund BWCA Permits for the period of May 1 – May 4 (apparently to align with Minnesota’s stay at home order). The quota permit season will begin on May 5. We have been told there is a press release with more detail on this topic forthcoming.
2. “Cooperator” businesses, such as ours, who issue permits on behalf of the Forest Service, have received guidance on a modified permit issuing procedure. This modified procedure allows for the permit paperwork and viewing of the educational video to be done virtually and in advance of arrival.This procedure is designed to support continued social distancing efforts once businesses begin to re-open. (We will likely have additional procedures in place to support that effort.)
3. Reading between the lines, the Forest Service is aligning their policy with the Governors stay at home order. With the provision of these modified permit issuing procedures, it is implied that the Boundary Waters will be open this summer. We are grateful for all the hard work by the local and regional Forest Service personnel for creating a mechanism to keep the Boundary Waters open this season!
4. No additional news on the campgrounds outside of the Wilderness (Sawbill Lake, Crescent, etc). They continue to be closed until May 1.
5. Boat launches at Forest campgrounds are planned to be open, however, the associated outhouses will likely be closed (at least in the short term).

There are still about 30 inches of snow on the ground here and likely about 20 inches of ice on the lake, so everything is effectively closed due to conditions. We’ll start our annual ice-out countdown with regular ice measurements, soon!

-Dan

4/11/20 – Huck and I headed out for a big walk on the lake the other evening. We encountered long shadows and beautiful clouds. -Jessica

4/9/2020 – Two updates from the past 24 hours:

1. Minnesota Governor Walz extended the “Stay at home” order until May 4th. This order not only requests that people stay home as much as possible, it also closes many types of businesses, including ours. We are still answering the phones, responding to emails, and taking reservations – so if you are planning a trip don’t hesitate to reach out! Our online store will also remain open.

2. The USFS has closed all campgrounds on the Superior National Forest until May 1. This includes both free rustic campgrounds (Baker, Kawishiwi, etc) and pay campgrounds (Sawbill, Temperance, Crescent, etc). These campgrounds are in effect closed due to winter conditions until that time anyway, so this doesn’t have much of a real world impact, for now. In the meantime, we have been instructed to develop an operations plan for campground management that is consistent with current CDC sanitation guidelines. We are hopeful that our plan, in addition to our current practice of diligent maintenance will enable us to operate the campgrounds when the time comes.

We’ll keep everyone up to date as we continue to learn more.

-Dan

4/7/20 – Slowly but surely it’s starting to feel a little more like spring around here. Stepping out my front door yesterday I was instantly swallowed up by the beautiful smell of decaying plant matter. That doesn’t sound like it would be a pleasant experience, but trust me, it smelled amazing. The snow had finally let loose all the smells it had been hoarding from us all winter long. -Jessica

4/6/2020 – Greetings Sawbill massive. During this really strange and unsettling time, we have been heartened to see the outpouring of love for the BWCA Wilderness and the prioritization of spending time/money on visiting this special place when uncertainty abounds. We have fielded numerous inquiries regarding the status of the BWCA in light of so many high profile closures across the country and world. Right now we are in a holding pattern. In part because it’s still winter on the Wilderness edge, with feet of snow on the ground and lakes locked up tight with ice. As we look forward, we are still uncertain how things will play out. We are expecting some guidance from the Forest Service in the coming days on both the campgrounds outside of the Wilderness in addition to travel/camping inside the Boundary Waters. We will share this information with you as we have it.

To date, “rustic” campgrounds on the Superior National Forest (fee free campgrounds such as Baker Lake, Kawishiwi Lake, etc) have been closed until further notice. No word on Sawbill Lake, Crescent Lake, nor Temperance River Campgrounds at this time. (Again, we are still shrouded in snow in this area, so all camping is basically limited for next month anyway).

While we wait, we are still accepting reservations in addition to fulfilling orders for merchandise and used canoes.

We hope everyone is finding solace in dreams and virtual connection to the Boundary Waters, a beacon of hope right now for all of us.

-Dan

4/4/20 – With the help of a few fresh inches of snow, I was able to celebrate the birthday of Sigurd Olson by heading out on a wilderness ski. -Jessica

We leave the high, bare slopes with their shifting snows and glide down into the close intimacy of birch and spruce, the trail winding in and out of thickets, down little slopes and up again, dodging under branches and around rocks and trees with the same feeling that portages give, or game trails, or any primitive paths through unbroken country. Cross-country skiing holds much of surprise and change, but best of all is the feeling of closeness to the woods themselves, to the sounds of birds and trees and the wind.

–Sigurd F. Olson, The Singing Wilderness, 226

4/3/20 – Last week I broke out the snowshoes and headed down a nearby logging road to take advantage of a bluebird day. I was mostly able to stay on top of the crusty snow, but every once in a while I’d break through up to my knees signaling that snowshoe season is coming to a close. Along the hike I found lots of moose sign from earlier in the winter, and you guessed it, scat (I just couldn’t wait another whole week to share). Everything I came across was melting out of the snow, so not very fresh, but fun to find in any case. -Jessica