Closures, not smoke, keeping some from Boundary Waters

DULUTH – Duluth residents MarySue Taallerud and John Pokrzywinski were so determined to escape into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness that smoke and wildfires would not keep them away.

Forest service officials revoked a favorite camping spot in July, so the couple quickly rebooked at Saganaga Lake near the Ontario border, an area that remained hot, dry and smoky.

"The moss was crunching under our feet," Taallerud said, and her treasured wilderness "felt fragile."

The threat of Canadian wildfires spreading across the border and into the Superior National Forest's Boundary Waters, along with smaller fires that continue to crop up inside the wilderness area, have forced closures of some of the most popular areas to hike, camp, paddle and fish. Outdoor enthusiasts have canceled scores of trips, outfitters say, crimping what was supposed to be a banner year as the COVID-19 pandemic eased. Others say outdoor enthusiasts are so eager to return to the wilderness that the fires and dry conditions are not enough to keep adventurers away, for now.

"People are still coming," said Ann Schwaller, wilderness program manager for the Superior National Forest. "Fire is a natural part of wilderness and it doesn't typically drive visitors away."

People are calling and asking lots of questions, said public information officer Joanna Gilkeson, but numbers don't appear down, though visitor numbers aren't released until the end of the year.

Piragis Northwoods Co. in Ely has had a busy summer finding alternate entry points for customers who lost initial permits as the forest service closed a number of lakes and campsites. Some just didn't rebook, said owner Steve Piragis.

"It's cut down on what was going to be a record year by a long shot," he said.

Demand remains high for Boundary Waters overnight camping permits, said Ely Outfitting Co.'s Jason Zabokrtsky, but many who aren't getting the trip they want are canceling outright, dealing a significant blow to outfitters.

"But when you look at how few permits are available for the rest of the summer, what's obvious is people aren't fettered by drought this summer, or the pandemic or wildfires," he said.

Schwaller said it's important for visitors to remember there are hundreds of primitive and dispersed campsites outside the Boundary Waters.

"There are campgrounds full of reservations," she said, and places that look just like the Boundary Waters with even fewer people to share space with.

The smoke and drought have only pushed Duluth resident Chris Pascone Up North more often. A four-season Boundary Waters user with his three daughters, it's not a burned-down "dystopia," he said.

"But it's clear to me things are happening," Pascone said. "This summer, for the first time, it sank in that the Boundary Waters I know and love may not be the same in 20 to 30 years."

The smoke hasn't deterred the mostly longtime customers of Heston's Lodge, a rustic resort nestled on Gunflint Lake along the Gunflint Trail. The smoke comes and goes, said co-owner Barb Gecas, who has lived there 38 years.

"We're in yet another cycle," she said of the drought. "1995 was a very hot summer. It was dry, and there were fire bans. That was the very beginning of realizing that I had to learn to live with forest fire."

People still came following the 1999 blowdown storm that flattened large swaths of the wilderness area, Piragis said, noting the recession that began in 2008 had a far bigger effect on the region's economy.

However, drought conditions started earlier in the area this summer than the last big drought he could recall.

"What's it going to be like here in September when it really gets dry?" he said.

Whether continued drought and subsequent fires affect use of the Superior National Forest is unknown, Zabokrtsky said. The devastating Pagami Creek and Ham Lake fires are now a decade and 14 years past, respectively, he said, and regrowth hasn't held people back.

Duluth's Ski Hut owner and avid Boundary Waters visitor Scott Neustel said he's sold out of kayaks and canoes, many to people headed Up North.

"Most people view what's happening as a short-term event, but if it becomes a long-term event, it could affect people's decisions," he said. "Right now, there is an appetite to be outdoors."

Current Superior National Forest closures run through Aug. 13, and an Aug. 6 update shared that existing fires within the forest had "moderated." The three Quetico Provincial Park fires most likely to cross the border had not significantly grown.

Like the Scout motto, forest officials and those who live and work in the vast North Woods say the key is preparation. Every trip in the Superior National Forest is affected by that year's conditions, said Clare Shirley, co-owner of Sawbill Outfitters in Tofte.

"No wilderness trip is going to be free from obstacles or challenging conditions," she said. "It's a matter of being aware of those conditions before you go and planning and preparing."

Taallerud and Pokrzywinski, who are camping in the Boundary Waters' Brule Lake area this weekend with their kids, did exactly that with a haul of meals to be made on a camp stove. The lack of campfires and the signs of drought make it a different experience, "but it hasn't made it any less a satisfying and magical place," Pokrzywinski said.

Jana Hollingsworth • 218-508-2450