Arrowhead Reroute

Note: this letter was sent in June, 2010. I did receive a response from the Senator stating that he supports the Bill

The Honorable Herb Kohl

330 Hart Senate Office Building

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator

I would like to bring your attention to Bill S.553 introduced to the US Senate by Senator Klobuchar of Minnesota. This Bill reroutes the North Country Trail in Northern Minnesota. I am asking you to sign on to be a Co-Sponsor of the Bill.

The present route takes the North Country Trail through a large Tamarack swamp. A series of wooden Boardwalks would have to be built through this section of the trail. Building a boardwalk through swampy areas is much more expensive than building a trail on solid ground. Plus, maintaining these boardwalks could prove to be expensive over the years.

Rerouting the Trail makes sense because it will be using 300 miles of existing trails including the Superior Hiking Trail, Border Route Trail and Kekekabec Trail. The Superior Hiking Trail in particular is one the most outstanding achievements in outdoor recreation over the past 25 years. It is considered one of the best hiking trails in America and has won several awards. The Superior Hiking Trail Association, a strong volunteer organization, has built and is maintaining the Trail. The inclusion of such great trail builders as the SHTA would be a boost to the North Country Trail.

The Kekekabic Trail and the Border Route Trail are both outstanding trails, too. I can tell you this from first hand experience because I have hiked both of these trails within the last 14 months. And, I have worked on a Border Route Trail Crew in May. These two trails are very scenic, passing many beautiful waterfalls and overlooks. Enclosed are a couple photos of me at a couple of the overlooks.

Currently, Wisconsin has the longest continuous stretch of completed trail in the North Country Trail. The section I refer to is a 117 mile stretch from Solon Springs to Copper Falls State Park. If this Bill S 553 passes, and we can complete a section from Solon Springs to Minnesota’s Jay Cooke State Park, then we could have almost 500 miles of continuous trail completed. This would be a great achievement.

Currently, the bill is Co-Sponsored by Senators Russ Feingold, Carl Levin, Debbie Ann Stabenow, and Al Franken. But we need every Senator from all 7 North Country Trail states to help the bill by Co-sponsoring it. I urge you to sign on as a Co-Sponsor for Senate Bill S.553. Thank you.

Regards from me, Todd McMahon

2 photos enclosed