Sportsman’s Club members attend trail dedication

Last week, Tuesday, October 30th, offered fantastic weather for many outdoor enthusiasts up in the Beltrami Island State Forest! Along with a fantastic turnout and grillout, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of Dam 4 connection on the North Star Trail.

Together, the Fourtown/Grygla Sportsman’s Club and the Roseau/Lake of the Woods Sportsman’s Club sought to improve the trail by connecting two existing roads via dead ends only a quarter of a mile apart. 

Congressman Collin Peterson facilitated a land exchange between the DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to connect the two State Forest roads.

What took only about a dozen days of physical labor to construct, took over 370 days of paperwork, phone calls, meetings, etc., and resulted in a finished project everyone feels makes the most sense and provides the safest route that saves about 15 miles of gravel riding down a heavily traveled forest road that’s used by cars, trucks and other large vehicles.

That afternoon, everyone came together to celebrate the success! Attendees from both the Fourtown/Grygla and Roseau/Lake of the Woods Sportsman’s Clubs were present, along with DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr, U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, State Rep. Dan Fabian and Senator Mark Johnson, to name a few. 

At the mic, Congressman Peterson shared that in order to get this done, tough conversations took place with the Fish and Wildlife Service; he had to threaten them with potential legislation to cut funding for the federal agency to purchase land in the future. Peterson went on to say that, “In the end, everyone saw the light.”

Directions from Grygla for those interested in checking it out: Head north on Hwy 54 to Skime. In Skime, turn right on Cty Road 18. Head east for approx. 6 miles. Turn right onto Morehouse Forest Road. After approx. 4 miles, Minimum Maintenance Road 1188 will be on your left. From here, you can head in to access the trail head, which is approx. 1 mile down.