WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast Update on BWCA Closure and Wildfires

Superior National Forest officials confirmed with the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast they have extended the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness closure through at least Friday, Sept. 3. Tofte District Ranger Ellen Bogardus-Szymaniak confirmed the closure extension. The choice to keep the BWCA closed for at least another week was widely expected. “We considered the weather, historically dry conditions, fire behavior and the resources that we have and decided to go for another week,” she said. “Nothing has changed since the day we put it on.” Wildfires continue to burn both inside and outside the BWCA wilderness line as of Aug. 25. Canadian wildfires burning inside Quetico Provincial Park continue to burn and could jump the BWCA unless conditions change, according to the Forest Service. Podcast hosts Joe Friedrichs and Matthew Baxley recorded this update as smoke and ash from Canadian wildfires fell near Grand Marais Wednesday night.