Baraga Plains Trail Shelter Burns
Doug Welker is the President of the Wolfe Chapter of the North Country Trail Association.
On Friday, April 27, 2007, the Ottawa National Forest undertook two controlled burns in the Baraga Plains, about a mile and a half northwest of North Country Trail's (NCT) Oren Krumm shelter, on the Sturgeon River. Baraga Plains is a rolling, sandy, glacial outwash plain. While there are wetlands and small lakes on the Plains, most of the land is home to jack pine and related drought-tolerant trees, as well as blueberries, sugar plums, and other fruits. Before the era of fire suppression, the Plains burned fairly frequently, perhaps averaging every 30 years at a given location. More recent timber management has resulted in less frequent burning, and an increase in available wood for wildfire fuel. The prescribed burn on Friday the 27th was intended to provide a small area where the natural process of fire could take place. Prescribed natural fire not only has ecological benefits, but often results in great blueberry crops for several years.
Conditions were excellent for a prescribed burn on Friday, and the fires went off without a hitch. The Forest Service monitored the fire sites on Saturday, and put out any hot spots. Sunday, wildfire potential became extreme due to high winds, low humidity, and tinder dry fuels, due to long-term drought. The Forest Service once again monitored the fire, but only sent one fire truck to the area where the fire reignited. Firefighters were successfully putting out hot spots, but eventually the engine needed more water, and they left to fill up. While gone, a hot spot erupted. By the time they returned the fire was out of control.
Baraga Plains Fire photo courtesy Doug Welker
The fire raced southeastward toward the Sturgeon River, and could be seen from my house, 18 miles north of the fire.
As I see it, the mistake was made not on Friday, when conditions were good, but on Sunday, when not enough engines (and perhaps firefighters) were on the scene. The extreme fire danger on Sunday had been forecast for several days.
My wife Marjory and I visited the burn two weeks later. The intensity of the fire had varied greatly within the fire perimeter, due to different forest types, stronger winds in some locations, terrain, and, of course, luck of the draw. The fire “crowned” in some areas, resulting in charred trees from the ground to their tops. In other places, only a light ground fire occurred. In most areas, enough ground vegetation and small trees and shrubs burned to bake the needles of conifers and turn them yellow. Everywhere the fire burned we found a layer of soot on the ground. Hiking on the NCT was almost eerie, and pretty in a way, with the black ground and yellow needles.
Marjory and I began hiking to the shelter from the Tibbets Falls trailhead (be careful where you park, a number of tall aspen are down or leaning over the trail).
As we walked downstream toward the shelter, we monitored the amount of fire damage. There are three bridges and two boardwalks between the falls and the shelter, but none were damaged, even with ground fire nearby. We entered an area where fire had jumped the river, as there were burned trees on the south side. The North Country Trail, though, was in excellent condition all the way to the shelter. We did not walk any section of the NCT that was not passable.
Fire Along North Country Trail photo courtesy Doug Welker
As we approached the shelter, it was obvious that the fire had crowned in some of the large pines along the river. At the junction of the shelter trail, the sign was in perfect condition, even though a ground fire was just a few feet away. The sign with the shelter map was untouched, even though an intense fire had burned nearby. We also visited the first campsite, and found its sign in perfect condition, and large trees nearby did not seem to be seriously damaged. The wilderness latrine with privacy screening was untouched, and benches at the fire ring had not been damaged, though fire came to within 3 or 4 feet.
The Oren Krumm Shelter was another story.
The shelter burned completely. Not a trace of wood could be found. The intense heat of the fire melted glass into a blob, and warped a campfire cooking grate.
Remains of Oren Krumm Shelter photo courtesy Doug Welker
In looking back at what went wrong, hindsight is 20:20. The location and intensity of the fire near the shelter was not entirely random. Those items that did not burn were surrounded by small, cleared areas. The back of the shelter was almost immediately downwind from a thicket of young balsam fir, of which only charred skeletons remain.
Had we cleared an area 15 to 20 feet behind the shelter, the building might have survived.
Marjory and I followed the trail west, where the fire had been very intense. While the NCT was in excellent shape, most paint blazes burned off the trees. Blue flagging was placed on the trail everywhere the fire was severe. When we reached the trailhead at Forest Road 2233, we discovered the sign the chapter installed had burned, and the Ottawa’s sign nearly burned. The two posts holding the signs had been badly scorched. Nearby we found the remains of a carsonite post, which partially melted.
The loss of the shelter is of great significance because it was built as a memorial to Oren Krumm, a Michigan Technological University student and son of Marj and Ray Krumm. Oren died suddenly of a rare disease in the 1990s. The shelter can be rebuilt, but the Logbook, where Oren’s friends and visitors expressed their thoughts about Oren and the shelter, and added comments on hikes, overnight stays, and weather, is irreplaceable. The shelter was also the base of operations for Eagle Scout projects along the trail.
Marj had plans to take a metal box to the shelter to keep the logbook from being damaged by rodents. I had once thought of copying the pages and returning it, concerned that the logbook might be stolen or used to start a fire. Of course, neither of us acted.
Marj hopes that those who visited the shelter over the years and had comments in the logbook could recollect some of what they wrote and some of the thoughts they had while there. She would like to reconstruct as much of the logbook as possible. Recollections need not be perfect. If you can think of things you wrote, please e-mail or mail them to Marj Krumm, P.O. Box 1, Pelkie MI 49958.
The shelter was built on land owned by WE Energies. About three miles of the North Country Trail was built on their land. WE Energies is selling the land where the shelter was located, and Michigan DNR is negotiating to purchase some of the land. If the sale goes through, it will probably be finalized in 2008.
One interesting complication is that Michigan DNR does not permit shelters on State Forest lands, and if the land is purchased it would be an addition to the Copper Country State Forest. However, our local DNR office and WE Energies are working on sale language to accept all developments in existence at the time of the sale. This would include the North County Trail, various signs, the latrine, several bridges, boardwalks, etc. If the shelter does not exist at sale time, it will not be grandfathered in. WE has given us permission to rebuild the shelter, similar to the one burned.
To be sure the shelter is in place, we need to act soon. The Ottawa National Forest's Kenton Ranger District has a wood we can use for structural lumber and bunks. Foundation blocks, screen, siding, and roofing are needed. The source of funds for those items is uncertain at this time.
It is amazing how many people have used this shelter, and care deeply about it. Within a week of the fire, I began receiving emails, many from people I had never heard of, asking how they could help.