Chippewa Youth Conservation Crew Completes Summer Season

The end of the month of July marks the end of the season for five local youth conservation crew members and their leader.

The end of July marks the end of a busy summer season for five local youth conservation crew members and their leader on the Chippewa's Deer River District.

The crew is made up of local high school students: Gary Parrington, Amanda Strickland, Liz Anttila, Jessica Parise, and Dane Heig. Ara Anderson, who teaches and coaches at the Deer River High School, was the crews' fearless leader this summer.

Projects across the district ranging from brushing trails to archeological digs kept the crew busy in June and July.

The district silviculturalist and reforestation technician educated the crew about some of the logging practices and harvest chronology around the area. The crew participated in pathological pruning of White Pine in the Bena area-about 80 acres in total, which entailed removing the bottom one-third of the foliage of the trees-which reduces the risk of White Pine Blister Rust.

Corrective pruning of the tops of the trees was also done, which meant selecting the dominant bud chute from the plant to encourage better tree growth. Removal of slash off of seedlings and saplings in the unit was also incorporated into their activities, which gave established trees more room to grow.

The Ruby Lake Girl Scout camp had a harvest operation and was in need of some clean up to reduce hazard fuels and make the site more aesthetically pleasing after harvest, which the YCC crew dedicated two weeks of their time to accomplishing. The district fire crew and other district employees were also on site to help with chainsaw operations and wood chipping/debris removal, while the YCC crew did much of the ground work pulling, piling, and removing slash from the trails and around structures.

This was one of the June projects, and really the first field experience for the crew. The Ruby Lake camp looks wonderful once again as a tangible result of the crew's hard work.

The Simpson Creek Trail, located near the Cutfoot Sioux Visitors Center, received a much-needed brushing. West Seelye, North Deer, and Clubhouse campgrounds got help from the crew with rehabilitation of trails, retaining walls, campsite clearing for lake views and access, and general maintenance and upkeep.

The crew also spent a few days helping the fire crew pull slash from a logging operation away from mature Red Pine trees in preparation for a prescribed burn that will take place in the future. This process helps to prevent scorching and mortality of the large trees.

Special field visits and educational experiences that Ara and the YCC crew got to be a part of were the Forest History Center, Blandin's operation and tour, Cutfoot Sioux CCC camp, the Lost Forty, Camp Rabideau, and the Joyce Estates. The YCC crew also received safety training throughout the season.

Rainy day activities included making fire protection maps and wood duck and bluebird houses. The crew will be ending the productive and exciting season with a well-deserved cookout at one of the sites they helped to rehabilitate this summer.