U.S. Forest Service officials are evaluating a potential partial reopening of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Superior National Forest Supervisor Tom Hall said Monday, July 20.
The entire wilderness closed July 14 for only the third time in its history as more than a dozen wildfires burned across the forest, ignited by a dry lightning storm and fueled by unprecedented dry conditions.
Nearly 800 firefighters are making slow but steady progress, but given the size, location and ongoing dry conditions, at least some fire may remain burning until snow falls.
Hall said permits for the Boundary Waters have been cancelled through Friday, and officials are looking to reduce the closure in areas that makes the most sense.
"Right now, we don't have a timing of exactly what that will look like or when that will occur, but that is something that we're working on presently," he said, "knowing that those cancellations through Friday sort of give us an initial clock of when we might try to make a new decision, going into this next weekend."
The Boundary Waters and summer tourism more broadly are essential to local economies. For example, the Ely Chamber of Commerce announced last week that it would cancel the city's annual Blueberry Art Festival, set for this weekend.
At a community meeting Sunday, Chamber President Tanner Spicer said they couldn't invite 40,000 people to the city while others are still unable to return to their homes.
But Spicer emphasized that doesn't mean Ely is closed.
"If you talk to people, tell them not to listen to all the doom and gloom that's on the news around the country," he said. "Ely itself isn't on fire. People can still come here. We can still support them. We can really use the business."
He also added that conversations with local officials about economic relief have already begun.
Acreage, firefighting updates
There are three wildfires burning within the Boundary Waters. The Thumb and Bear Trap fires are the largest, burning north of Ely.
Bear Trap is almost 38,000 acres, nearly the size of Lake Vermilion, and 80% of the fire is on the U.S. side of the border.
The Little Knife Fire crossed over from Canada last week. It has burned about 4,600 acres, west of the Gunflint Trail.
Two other fires are responsible for most of the ongoing evacuation orders.
The Sioux Fire prompted closures along the Echo Trail between Ely and Crane Lake. It is over 12,000 acres and is burning partially within the Boundary Waters.
The Camp Fire was the reason for the evacuations along the Fernberg corridor northeast of Ely. It's an estimated 4,400 acres.
There are also a dozen smaller fires burning between Orr and Crane Lake. The combined containment on those fires is 57%.
Containment means that firefighters have established lines around the fire that they are confident will hold.
Across all fires, firefighters have been building and improving lines and working to protect any structures at risk.
On Monday, the U.S. Forest Service hosted another community meeting, this one on the Little Knife Fire. Another update on the Little Knife is planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lutsen Town Hall; it will also be livestreamed on the forest's Facebook page.
The Forest Service has been sharing additional updates on the fire on its Facebook page.
The daily updates from the incident command team can be found on InciWeb.
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