The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-08-29
Stupendous Efforts Begun by
Government to Perpetuate
Vast Sanctuary.
BY RAY L. SICARD
OF The Duluth News Tribune Staff

islands set like emeraldS in enchanting
display Inviting campSites and scenery
that is awe-inspiring.
Such is the vast Superior National
forest and the mighty Quetica Reserve
of the United States and Canada, for
ming one of the largest wild life re-
refugees in America And such is the
place for your next vacation trip.
We went into the unspoiled territory
at the invitation of the United States
Forest Service. We ate and slept with
the CCC boys whose work in the forest
has been criticized; we roamed rich
timber stands with forestry experts
and United States rangers; we saw at
first hand the Stupendous efforts under
way to perpetuate this wilderness sane
tuary for rich and poor alike.
BY automobile, railroad Speeder,
canoe and afoot We travelled several
hundred miles. We saw more wild
game, caught more fish, and slept more
soundly under northern skies than
many of our touring predecessors.
We packed over portages used by
dams centuries ago; waded knee deep
through muck only to return 48 hours
later to find CCC boys from nearby
side-camp had replaced the Swampy
portage with a firm, rock-ribbed path,
scientifically drained and built to
Withstand the ravages of time and
weather.
We did everything the vacationist
can possibly do in the forest in
limited space of time, and We saw
everything from the eastern tip of
the forest to its western extremity.
For we journeyed alternately with
inspectors, guards and rangers whose
lives for the most part have been
spent in the region and who know
every turn in the stream; every island
in the border lakes: every portage and
trail
Leave Awed and Satisfied
And we came away a little awed,
and quite satisfied that critics Of the
Civilian Conservation corpS-in north
eastern Minnesota at least-were in
many respects unaware of the true
services the government is offering
its public through the work of these
boys as supervised by the forest SER
vice. We say were" because much
Of the criticism has been withdrawn.
Accompanied by j. w. BilD Trygg,
inspector of trails and portages in
she Superior, a native of the forest
and a keen student of all that is the
Big Woods, we left Duluth with the
admonitions of R. q. Harmon, Su-
perior forest supervisor, that we were
in for it in big way"
Along the cool North Shore drive
we journeyed in Bills pickup" Ca
small truck used extensively by the
forest service in its fire-protection
work and hitch carries surprisingly
effective fire-fighting equipment) to
Good Harbor CCC camp, nine miles
west of Grand Marais. Here we met
Ranger william Brown of the Gun
flint district and a party Of Izaak
Walton league directors of the Min
nesota organization, themselves on
tour
Over fried chicken for dinner
(there's no lunch up there at noon
we learned from Lieut.. c. j. Normoyle,
chaplain of thi East Superior sub
district of the c 9, that religion plays
a big part in the lives of these young
sters. "a clean and healthy body
can't fail to produce clean and
healthy mind" was his simple ex-
PLANTATION.
Along the shores of the nearby
Cascade, one of the forests finest
trout streams, Ranger Bill Brown and
L. W. Krefting, technical foreman in
charge of game and fish, showed, our
party, which still included the Wal
tonians, the governments effort to
give sportsmen more fish by the con-
struction of natural trout-rearing
ponds in the river. Springfield, they
give the fry and fingerlings a chance
to grow into childhood without being
made prey to their natural enemies.
And nine out of ten survive" the
ranger said.
Where the Cascade forks at the
foot of Bughouse hill and Devils Track
road, Krefting called attention to a
Fish Yield Study" sign by which the
government keeps an accurate check
on the fish poundage taken daily by
fishermen With this information the
service will be able to determine stock
reduction and replant with greater
degree of knowledge of stream re-
quirements.
Mr. Harmon. who was directing the
Waltonians on their tour of inspec-
ton, inSited that the party see the
Brule river burma desolate stretch
was once virgin pine destroyed six
years ago by a careless smoker or
camper. It lies west of the Cascade
and its loss was computed at many,
many thousands of dollars. From
nearby Cascade CCC camp on Devils
Track lake we journeyed by pick
up and automobile to Northern Light
CCC camp on the Gunflint trail
where a youthful army officer, Lieut..
w. E. Everett of South Dakota, has
been stationed since 1888.
Army Runs CCC Camps
Within the confines of these CCC
camps, the army runs things. Once
outside the camp limits, the forest
service takes over. It has proved an
excellent arrangement The forest
camp superintendent gives the boys
the work to do away from quarters.
William Roiko, Northern Light "supe"
whose major task at present is blaz-
ing a trail through a dense forest, |