OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The scars from the storm that raced through the Northwoods nearly two years ago are still fresh in the minds of many in the area.
The Mountain Fire Lookout Tower in Oconto County, is one of those places. The site is officially opening to visitors on Saturday.
The road to the top of the tower winds up the hill about a quarter mile, and along the way, there are reminders of the July 2019 storm, and the cleanup that followed.
Friends of the Mountain Fire Lookout Tower Member Ann Maletzke tells FOX 11 seeing the site can be unsettling.
“I know it’s changed a lot, and it was pretty shocking to me coming up here today, because I haven’t seen any of the logging up here. The last time I was up here was last fall. So, it’s kind of a shock. I’ll be honest with you.”
The 86-year-old tower survived the storm, but a walk up the 132 steps to the very top reveals a scene where logging operations and storm damage seem to combine to form a new landscape.
“You’ll see a drastic difference, when you come to the fire tower. The aesthetics are still there. If you look to the south, there will be the majority of trees, a little less on the north end,” said Samantha Boucher, Oconto County Tourism Manager.
Boucher tellls FOX 11 the site is a popular destination, and people need to be very careful when visiting.
“We just ask that you don’t stray from the path. There’s the road up to the fire tower, there’s a lot of trees down on the side that you’ll see, but we just ask that you stay on the gravel trail, or the steps up to the tower. Don’t veer off.”
The friends group spent Wednesday raking leaves, and picking up any garbage. Maletzke says the site is just beginning to recover.
“It’s starting to grow back up. I mean, we’re starting to see little trees coming back up, and stuff. There’s a lot of work to be done here yet.”
Officials say clean up on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest near Mountain will take years.
The U.S. Forest Service estimates about 100,000 acres of trees were damaged during the 2019 storm.
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