Superior National Forest Update: April 3

Hi.  I’m Amy Wilfahrt, wildlife biologist on the Superior National Forest, with this week’s edition of the National Forest Update  -  information on conditions affecting travel and recreation on the Tofte and Gunflint Districts of the Forest. For the week of April 3, here’s what’s going on around the Forest.
If you are headed out to enjoy a last ski in the winter woods, you may have waited a bit too long.  There is still some snow out there, but there isn’t a lot and what is there is going away pretty fast.  But, if you are planning on paddling anywhere, you’ll have to wait a bit longer.  There is still a lot of ice on the lakes – over two feet on many of them.  It is softening though, and you will have to be careful if you are venturing out on the ice.  It is not very predictable this time of year.
If you are out driving, there are a couple of logging operations going on.  One is off Forest Road 170 on the road to Wilson Lake and another on the Trapper’s Lake Road near Isabella on the Tofte District.  On the Gunflint side, there is one operation off the Greenwood Lake.  Due to the spring thaw making gravel road beds mushy, the county and Forest have imposed load limits on roads which means that even with these logging operations, there is not much in the way of truck traffic right now.  So, you don’t have to watch for large trucks as much, but you do have to watch for washouts, crumbling shoulders, and water over the road. 
Many of the roads that were not plowed during the winter are still impassable due to snow, ice, or soft roadbeds.  Plowed roads have been thawing and refreezing, and may be icy in spots.  One small advantage of our dry spring is we’ve had virtually no washouts this year, but be aware that some roads are very mushy in low spots.  When in doubt, get out and check before driving over suspiciously soggy spots.
Those dry conditions may make for good spring driving, but it also makes the forest ripe for fires.  Until the thunderstorm season starts, virtually all spring fires on the forest are started by people.  That means that despite the dry conditions, we can avoid wild fires, if we choose to.   If you are using fire, be very careful this spring to make sure that it is controlled.  We’ve had some really windy days, and the combination of low humidity, lack of rain, and high winds mean that what normally would be a safe fire could easily get away from you.  While snow cover makes for little fire danger in some areas, the shore of Lake Superior is actually at critical fire danger this weekend.  On the west side of the Forest, the snow is gone and there has already been one eleven acre wild grass fire.  On our east side, let’s see if we can have zero human caused wild fires this year.
Out in the woods, wildlife is noticing the spring.  Robins have shown up in the area, and eagles are sitting on hatching eggs or nestlings.  Melting snow banks on the road sides have exposed the winter’s accumulation of dead deer, and crows, ravens, and eagles are gathered to enjoy the feast, creating a uniquely north woods traffic hazard.  Where else do you need to brake for low flying eagles?
Enjoy our spring weather, and until next week, this has been Amy Wilfahrt with the National Forest Update.