Employee Awarded with new Memorial Award for Excellence

Superior National Forest’s Employee Awarded with new Memorial Award for Excellence in Coordinating Partners for Shared Land Management and Conservation Work.

In 2023, the Superior had over 1,000 volunteers, contributing over 6,ooo hours of project work. Outstanding partnership coordination by Superior’s recreation and wilderness staff was celebrated by honoring Jon Benson, receipt of the inaugural Michael Manlove Memorial Award by the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee.

The Superior National Forest’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) at over 1 million acres contains 2,000 wilderness campsites,1,200 miles of canoe routes, and 12 hiking trails. Outside the BWCAW, thousands more backcountry and developed campsites, trails, and more require annual maintenance and monitoring. Luckily, through partnerships and volunteer programs like the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee, the Youth Conservation Corps, Student Conservation Association, and other programs, Superior National Forest Wilderness Managers and recreation staff get assistance for projects to maintain and monitor wilderness portage trails and campsites, and other trails and camping areas.

This past fall, the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (“BWAC”), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that restores and maintains BWCAW trails, awarded USFS Superior National Forest employee Jon Benson-Assistant District Ranger for Wilderness and Recreation on the Tofte and Gunflint Ranger Districts, with the first ever Mike Manlove Memorial Award, named in honor of USFS Ranger Mike Manlove (1954-2007). Mr. Manlove was a Superior National Forest Wilderness Ranger who coordinated and assisted with numerous trail maintenance volunteer organizations during his career, prior to his passing in 2007.

The award recognizes the special partnership between the USFS and BWAC – specifically, 15 years of guidance, planning, and oversight provided by Benson and other wilderness program managers to BWCAW trail maintenance volunteer organizations. Through the Superior’s wilderness program’s partnership with BWAC, tens of thousands of volunteer hours over the 15 years have been contributed towards maintaining BWCAW foot trails, furthering the public’s recreational enjoyment of the wilderness while also providing substantial cost savings to the public.

Rebecca Manlove, widow of Mike Manlove, presented the award. Benson commented on the award:

The partnership and collaboration with the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee has been both fun and rewarding. The efforts of BWAC to recruit, train, and then complete work on the Powwow Trail has been remarkable to watch. To see the sheer amount of trail clearing that has been done in a safe manner while also developing new trail stewards is something for which BWAC should be very proud. I am grateful for all of the work that this group has done and the efforts of the BWAC leaders to create an environment that is welcoming to people of all ages and skill levels.

To learn more about volunteering on the Superior National Forest visit the volunteering section of the website. The Superior National Forest can connect you to partner organizations such as the BWAC and others.