4/7/24 – Recently, the USDA Forest Service has indicated that they are looking into updating the management plan for the BWCA Wilderness. Understanding the world of federal agencies and how it affects the public lands we all love is something people spend their whole careers attempting to navigate. It’s a complex world of bureaucracy and we frequently hear confusion about Parks vs Wilderness, DNR vs USFS, National Forest campgrounds vs State Park campgrounds. However, we know that Sawbill customers have a wealth of experience and knowledge about the history and use of the BWCA. We value your opinions and know that there is immense value in sharing that input with the Forest Service.

The Forest Service is charged with managing the Superior National Forest. To do so, they operate under a Forest Plan. Within the Superior National Forest is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Similarly, within the Forest Plan is a management direction for the BWCA Wilderness. The mechanism for updating this management plan is to implement a Forest Plan Amendment, focusing on the BWCA Wilderness management. The last time this was updated was around 30 years ago.

Here is the letter to the public released by the Forest Service:

Here is the link to more information from the letter above: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/superior/?project=65777

There will be two open houses – an in person event on Thursday April 11th from 4:30 – 7pm at Superior National Forest Headquarters at 8901 Grand Ave Place in Duluth. A virtual open house will be held on April 18th from 4-6 pm. Send us an email at info@sawbill.com if you’re interested in attending virtually and we can send you the meeting link.

We will keep you posted as the process carries on. We look forward to chatting with you about your thoughts and ideas when you visit us this summer!

Clare

4/3/24 – Progress toward ice out has come to a screeching halt as of late. This afternoon the dogs and I ventured out onto the windswept lake to see what was what. We found a very solid 13 inches of ice with about 7 inches of snow on top of that. -Jessica

3/26/24 – How fitting that the first real snowstorm of the “winter” comes after the spring equinox. So far we’ve received 10 inches of snow from this storm, and it’s still coming down. -Jessica

3/22/24 – Temperatures have remained below freezing this past week with a few lows dipping down to single digits and one morning briefly below zero. The lake has firmed up nicely and back to being quite slick with the sun working it’s Zamboni magic once again. No slushy top inch like we were seeing last week. Even with the cool temps, it seems we lost a little ice since our last report with four test holes revealing 11-1/2 to 13-1/2 inches. -Jessica

3/13/24 – This afternoon we happily welcomed a new addition to the ice measuring tool kit. The fresh out of the box auger easily cut through a handful of test holes with it’s razor sharp blade to reveal between 14 and 15 inches of ice on the south end of the lake. The ice seems pretty solid out there still, but the top inch is more slush than ice at this point. Things have been changing quickly the past few warm sunny days and I’m certainly not enticed to go on any long lake walks like I did just a few days ago.

Looking at the extended forecast however, this ice melting extravaganza might come to a screeching halt over the weekend with lows predicted in the teens and single digits through early next week. -Jessica

3/12/24 – And just like that, our shimmering smooth ice has transitioned to crunchy puddles, which will likely loose their crunch by end of day.

Yesterday we reached a high of 59° which produced just too much water on the ice for this mornings measly 27° low to fully refreeze. -Jessica

3/11/24 – The past handful of days we’ve noticed the higher angle of the sun having a Zamboni like effect on Sawbill Lake. Many of the bumpy ridges that were present a week ago have been smoothed over and refrozen by the consistently cold nights. To give an idea, the lake surface around mid day is not dissimilar to a popsicle that has been recently pulled out of the freezer and licked a few times. -Jessica

Coffee was spilled twice in the making of this post. It’s slick out there!

3/7/24 – Most people get their mail delivered to a mailbox at the end of their driveway, or straight to their door.  In our case mail and other shipments get dropped off in the bustling metropolis of Tofte, either at the Post Office, or at small shed we rent from the Tofte General Store.  On a rare occasion a wayward substitute delivery driver will make their way up the 24 miles of the Sawbill Trail with a wild look in their eye, but for the most part we spend a lot of time with large boxes of t-shirts and merchandise in the back of our vehicles, especially in the lead up to spring.

Yesterdays “town trip” included picking up a shipment of vinyl ester resin and other supplies that Dan uses to refurbish the used canoes we sell on the website.  He’s been steadily cycling the canoes through the workshop since mid-November and is getting down to the last couple batches before they’ll all be done and ready for their new homes.  -Jessica

2/29/24 – In celebration of Leap Day the dogs and I went for a quick walk on the lake before the breeze picked up and the clouds filled in. We can report a skiff of snow along the shorelines, and lots of uneven icy patches once out on the main part of the lake. Great conditions for practicing your penguin walk. In the woods we found about 3 inches of snow in most places, but bare ground is starting to show through in areas with more sun exposure. -Jessica

2/13/24 – Unlike most of the state, we’ve had a consistent, although thin, layer of snow blanketing the forest since the beginning of January. Last weeks warm up was beginning to threaten that trend with multiple days of rain resulting in patches of bare ground opening up here and there. This past weekend, however, temperatures dropped back below freezing, the rain switched over to snow, and those patches of ground were tucked back under a white blanket of snow. Lake travel also greatly improved with the return of cool temperatures. -Jessica