Northwoods Manufacturing student creates sign for new trail

By Zachary Marano

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UPSON, Wis. - At the head of the newly-opened trail from Casey Sag Road to Foster Falls stands a trailhead sign that was created by Ross Niemi, a 17-year-old, soon-to-be senior at Hurley High School.

As part of the school's Northwoods Manufacturing program, Niemi said he designed the sign and crafted it using cedar and the industry-grade woodcarving equipment available at the school.

Niemi said he started work on the trailhead sign in January 2021 and finished it in two months.

"If the detail was not correct for my standard, I restarted the project and redid it again," Niemi said. "If a part had cutoff on a letter, I'd say 'No, I don't want that. This has to be top-of-the-line, high quality work,' and I'd restart the project. It took a while to make, but I gave it my best. That thing is one of the best things I made in the three years that I've been in Northwoods Manufacturing."

Niemi said that one of the pieces of equipment used was a CNC (computer numerical control) wood router. He said that he created a digital file and put it in the CNC machine. The router cut the wood into the desired shape by reading the file, Niemi said.

While interested in creating more trail signs in the future, Niemi said he thinks woodcarving as more of a hobby than a career path for him.

The trailhead sign was commissioned by Laura Bethany Thomas of the Wisconsin Master Naturalist program, which is a volunteer-led conservation program based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The commission was sent to Roger Peterson, instructor of the woods department at Northwoods Manufacturing. Peterson said that he assigns commissions to students who are skilled in the relevant areas. He said he directed the project to Niemi because he felt that he was best qualified among the students for this project.

The trailhead sign was recently erected and the Casey Sag Road to Foster Falls trail has been certified by the North Country Trail officials.