Volunteers improve remote Wildlife Management Area on Minnesota’s Lake Vermilion

Tower, Minn. — More than 50 volunteers tackled a border country landscape last Saturday in the name of improving access to state public lands. The project unfolded on the 42.16-acre Pine Island Wildlife Management Area, which exists on an island in the eastern portion of Lake Vermilion in St. Louis County.

Coordinating with the Minnesota DNR’s Tower-area office, Minnesota-based Sportsmen For the Boundary Waters has adopted the WMA for the next two years. SFBW organized last Saturday’s event, from recruiting volunteers to feeding them afield to shuttling equipment and workers out to the remote site via rental pontoons. Other key event sponsors with staff on hand included the DNR, onX Maps, and Mark Kenyon and his “Working for Wildlife” tour.

Tasks on site included planting 1,000 trees for white-tailed deer wintering habitat, clearing and establishing a mile of hunter walking trails, brushing, and signage repair.

Using dibble bars, a dozen teams planted white spruce and red oaks across three locations on the WMA. Earlier, a contract crew from Dutchman Tree Services had cleared understory balsam brush to make way for the wildlife tree planting.

The DNR calls the thinning of undergrowth “daylighting,” and it’s a technique to promote regeneration of native conifers in areas that haven’t experienced recent burns.

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DNR Area Wildlife Supervisor Jessica Holmes said the agency acquired the property in December 1988 as a donation from landowners John F. and Jeannette J. Sweet. To the parcel’s west lies more than 1,500 acres of accessible state, county, and national forest land, plus the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to the north.

As part of its climate resiliency efforts, recent DNR tree plantings in the area have included red oaks, in part for tree diversity and to boost acorn mast for deer, bears, and other wildlife.

“We’ve been adding oaks, and we have had good success,” she said. “It’s a little out of the box, but the way we’re trending with climate change, it may be a good decision. We’ll call it a test plot.”

Holmes said volunteer work events allow the DNR to complete large swaths of site improvements that can take years for agency staff to “squeeze in” between other duties.

The effort marked the first project of Sportsmen For the Boundary Waters’ Stewardship and Habitat Initiative, a program the group is implementing in multiple areas in and around the BWCAW with partnering agencies, conservation groups, and outdoor industry leaders.

Matthew Schultz, SFBW development and policy coordinator, said volunteers traveled from across Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and as far as southern Michigan. OnX staffers Jake Flatley and Becky Marcelliano flew in from Denver and Salt Lake City.

“We’d like to thank the amazing volunteers who came out and worked their tails off during a hot and sometimes buggy day to deliver remarkable habitat improvement efforts on this state land,” Schultz said. “We’re thrilled with the turnout and the work we did improving this area for hunters. Stay tuned for another project in 2025.”

An employee with Meateater, Kenyon launched the Working For Wildlife Tour in 2023 to shine a spotlight on volunteer conservation across the country. Other WFW events occurred earlier in May in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest and in June in the Allegheny National Forest of Pennsylvania.

“This event epitomized everything I’d hoped for when first starting the Working For Wildlife Tour,” said Michigan-based Kenyon. “We brought together dozens of hunters and anglers to make a positive impact on a piece of public land, had a terrific time in the company of fellow sportsmen and women, and came away inspired to do even more. It was a great day. Showing up physically to volunteer for a day like this is a super-hero move.”

OnX provided funding for the Pine Island WMA via its Adventure Forever Grants program, which provides dollars for nonprofits, land trusts, tribes, and community groups for conservation and access efforts such as acquisition, trail building, and private land access.

Marcelliano, senior brand manager at onX, said the company’s philanthropic arm continues to expand, and approximately 20 projects around the country received funding this year. Applications for the increasingly competitive program typically are due in mid-spring. Interested groups can learn more by visiting the onX website.

The dedication of volunteers to the heavy work last Saturday impressed Marcelliano and co-worker Jake Flatley.

“I was amazed at all the people who spent their Saturday at the project. Their hustle and energy was inspiring,” she said. “The impact to the Pine Island WMA was massive.”

“Access and stewardship, that’s in our DNA. This project is a perfect fit for what onX is all about,” Flatley added. “I just wish I could’ve fished more. I’m definitely going to be coming back to the area for grouse hunting and fishing.”

After the field day, attendees rendezvoused Saturday evening at Grand Ely Lodge for a barbecue buffet, party, and SFBW fundraiser. Ely-based Americana band Van and the Free Candies provided live music.