I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Aug. 14, 1996
By Devlyn Brooks
Staff Writer
A local advisory group studying damage done to the Paul Bunyan Trail this past winter by snowmobile traction products hopes to find an immediate solution to curb the wear and tear on the trail this winter, said the group's facilitator, Forrest Boe.
However, the difficult task is to please all that are involved, including snowmobilers, manufacturers of the traction products, state officials and other seasonal trail users.
Boe, a DNR Trails and Waterways supervisor, said the trail was damaged by the traction products, also known as track studs, in areas the snowmobiles accelerated and decelerated. These areas include road crossings, stop signs, curves and bridges.
This problem has mirrored similar incidents that have occurred on other state trails, highways and even city streets, Boe said. It has become a national concern for many, including the track stud manufacturers, which have a lot at stake in the debate.
Boe said several things contributed to the amount of damage that was done to the Paul Bunyan Trail.
First, the early snow fall last year was not a type that groomed well, meaning a good base of ice and snow was not maintained before snowmobilers started using the trails. Without this base, the track studs were digging into the trail surface and not the snow.
This leads Boe, and other advisory committee members, to believe most of the damage to the Paul Bunyan Trail was done early in the season, rather than throughout the season.
Second, last year's large snowfall produced an excellent snowmobiling season. It meant more riders were using the trails, and more riders inevitably means the trail will see more track studs. The more the trail was used, there was less snow on the trail for covering. Boe estimates that snowmobile usage was up 60 to 80 percent last winter.
Third, the use of track studs is on the rise, so generally the state's trails incurred more damage than previously, Boe said.
"We expected some of that damage," he said of the Paul Bunyan Trail, "but we didn't expect to see the extend we did."
Boe said the local advisory group's goal is different than others studying the track stud issue, which include major manufacturers of the studs. Maintaining a local focus is what Boe's group is doing because it wants to provide a logical solution accommodating to all before one involving restricted legislation or trail closings, is mandated to them by state officials.
"We've got a different task here. We'll wait and see what happens at the national levels," he said. "But we want something that can prevent damage this winter on the Paul Bunyan Trail."
The group doesn't want to exclude snowmobilers from using the trail, Boe said. But the trail damage that occurred this year cannot be repeated, and a plan should ready to go in October.
"We've met twice and talked about what we can do. Some of the ideas are wild and some we could easily do," Boe said. "At the next meeting we're concentrating on how we can make some of the ideas work."
Some suggestions include increased trail grooming, covering the trail with a layer of ice before snowfall, grooming alongside the trail rather than on the trail in areas where wind blows snow from the trail, posting informational signs, promoting the use of nearby secondary trails and closing the trail when snow conditions are poor.
"We need to have a plan in place by this fall before snowmobiling season," Boe said. "We that they (state and national advisory groups) wouldn't have any ideas ready before the snow flies."
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