Seney National Wildlife Refuge Snowshoe

There was not much snow in the Seney Refuge, but the icy conditions made it safer to snowshoe rather than hike. I was on my way to Marquette to visit with friends and decided to snowshoe on the way. It was a gorgeous sunny day -- which is something we do not get much this time of year.

Created in 1935 by President Franklin Roosevelt, the wildlife refuge was carved out of the Manistique swamp by the Civilian Conservation Corp. Originally the park was created to protect migratory birds. The CCC workers built a series of dikes, water control structures, ditches, and roads to control the 7,000 acres of water in 26 pools. Throughout the 96,000 acreas there are areas managed not just for the wildlife, but also for hunting, cross country skiing, fishing, wildlife viewing, and research. Since there was not enough snow yet to groom for cross country skiing, I snowshoed the ski trails.