New bridge benefits northeastern Minnesota’s Baptism River watershed

MN DNR

Work is complete on a new bridge south of Finland that opens up miles of trout hab­itat and preserves a trail connection where Hockamin Creek in­tersects with the CJ Ramstad ATV and Snowmobile Trail in northeastern Minneso­ta’s Finland State For­est.

Funded by Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences) dollars, the Ramstad crossing project is one of many projects in the Baptism River watershed that focused on providing connectivity to cold water habitat for brook trout and other cold water fish species.

Before installation of the new bridge, culverts for the creek were too small to ef­fectively manage high water conditions, re­sulting in flooding of the trail. During low water conditions, the culverts were elevated above the creek, acting as a fish barrier.

“Climate change is driving an increase in extreme precipita­tion and flood events, which places more pressure on water-re­lated infrastructure,” said Sarah Strommen, Minnesota Depart­ment of Natural Re­sources commissioner. “The water infrastruc­ture projects includ­ed in Get Out MORE funding will modern­ize outdoor recreation­al experiences while making these areas more resilient to cli­mate change and en­hancing aquatic habi­tat.”

In addition to fish passage, this and other nearby culvert replace­ments are improving public safety. These bridges allow resi­dents and emergency vehicles to travel in remote areas in and around the Finland State Forest. Flood­ing can damage and force closure of roads and trails, as happened during flooding in 2022 and 2024. With roads closed, residents and emergency vehi­cles traveling south of the Finland area had to take long detours of as much as 20 miles.

For brook trout, the culverts were a barri­er in low water condi­tions when the creek wasn’t high enough to get into the bottom of the culverts. During these times, when weather can be hot, trout need to migrate to deeper, cooler pools in the creek to survive. The new bridge allows the stream to flow freely, opening miles of fish habitat for trout on this tributary of the Baptism River.

“As recently as five years ago, seven un­dersized culverts frag­mented Hockamin Creek, making it dif­ficult if not impossible for fish to pass,” said Dean Paron, Minneso­ta DNR stream habitat supervisor. “We’re ex­cited to get this com­pleted and remove the last barrier along the main creek.”

Statewide, Get Out MORE funding for stream restoration projects such as this one will reconnect an estimated 156 miles of streams. Project benefits are not limit­ed to the site of con­struction. Projects provide upstream and downstream benefits to clean water, habi­tat improvement and climate resiliency, as well as enhanced rec­reational opportunities and safety upgrades.

Partners with the Minnesota DNR in the Ramstad cross­ing project included Trout Unlimited, Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Minnesota Pol­lution Control Agency. Partners collaborated to obtain state and fed­eral funding, design the new crossing and oversee construction. The bridge had to ac­commodate snowmo­bile groomers and be strong enough to sup­port logging trucks using the forest road during timber harvest.

The creek also will benefit from forest planning and work in the area from The Nature Conservan­cy. TNC has planted tree species along the creek that will survive higher temperatures brought on by climate change. In the spring, those trees will shade the snowpack, help­ing it last longer into the spring and keeping stream temperatures cooler into the sum­mer.

“I think we’re mak­ing a landscape-lev­el difference,” Paron said. “Climate change is a huge issue. But I think we’ve done some pretty good work that will be beneficial well into the future, not just for brook trout but for the streams them­selves.”

Not long after finish­ing the bridge, there was even an unexpect­ed visitor captured in a trail camera photo of the project – a moose made its way across the bridge.

Funding for the proj­ect came from the Sus­tain Our Great Lakes Program, the Minne­sota Outdoor Heritage Fund via Trout Unlim­ited and DNR’s Get Out MORE program. More information about the project is available on the DNR website.