TOWER — The Howard Wagoner Trails Club is gearing up for a busy year. The club held its fall meeting earlier this fall. The main focus of the meeting was a discussion of the upcoming trail projects, funded by a $200,000 federal recreation grant with matching funds of $56,000 from the Prospector’s ATV Trail group.
The project will include rerouting of the Prospector ATV trail where it used to share a route with the Wagoner Ski Trails. The Mesabi Trail’s final segment, connecting it to Tower, will be paved and become a ski trail in the winter.
A new trail will connect the ski trails to the Ancient Cedars trail, widen the trail’s boardwalk, and widen and smooth the cedar’s “red” trail to make it more accessible. A new trail will be built to connect HooDoo Point campground to the Pine Ridges trail system, which will include a new four-foot wide boardwalk over the boggy area, as well as work on some of the Pine Ridges loops.
The club also voted to move the main cross-country ski trailhead onto Rivers Rd., just south of the current trailhead/parking area. Organizers feel this area would be safer and also has room for a planned building for storing grooming and trail maintenance equipment, as well as possibly the creation of a warming shack in the future.
The club is named after Howard Wagoner, a longtime DNR and city of Tower forester who helped design and build many area trails, including the cross-country ski trail network. He was also instrumental in the formation of Bear Head Lake State Park. Several of his children are still active members of the club.
Club member Nancy Salminen did a survey of invasive plants along the ski trail this fall, and members talked about ways to reduce the introduction of such plants. Salminen said since the city started mowing the trails in the summer, this has helped reduce invasives. A main concern is the perennial tansy, which thrives in sunny and open areas. Salminen said the club can work on reducing open areas on the trail system.
The club will be hosting their winter ski/snowshoe gathering and chili feed on Feb. 28.
Club officers and project leaders were reelected: President Bill Stocker, Vice President Marshall Helmberger, administrator Barb Soderberg, publicity/memberships Kathy Siskar, trail maintenance Aaron Kania, kiosks/maps Mark Peil, grooming Terry Wagoner, social media Laura Ricker-McMahon. A secretary position is still open. Duties would include taking minutes at the quarterly club meetings.
Club membership is open to anyone interested in outdoor recreation and supporting the trail system. Volunteers are always welcome to help with trail maintenance, and the club does sponsor weekend trail maintenance times during the year. Volunteer time spent working on the trails is used to offset local matches required for some grant funding, and the club tracks all the volunteer hours spent each year.
You can join the club using the form at https://cityoftower.com/recreation. Cost is $10 for one year or $25 for three years. Dues can be mailed to Howard Wagoner Trails Club, PO Box 293, Tower, MN 55790 or pay electronically on the city of Tower website under Recreation.   
Skiers on the city trails are required to have a State Ski Pass (which helps fund the trail grooming each winter), and bike riders on the Mesabi Trail are required to have a Mesabi Trail Pass. There is no charge for hiking/walking on any of the area trails.
Trail club sweatshirts are available to order at DontChaKno in Tower, with $10 of the $38 purchase price being donated to the club.