Boundary waters closed
"Fire managers are monitoring the situation and will determine when it is safe to lift this closure,'' the Forest Service announced.īesides the trip cancellations and route changes forced on paddlers because of fire-related lake and campsite closures, campers have had to alter meal planning because of a broad campfire ban, and they are dealing with heavier competition for the dwindling number of available campsites The sudden closures affect the Crooked Lake travel zone, the Iron Lake travel zone and certain campsites north of Gun Lake. The Forest Service announced that rangers will begin to evacuate campers Friday from Crooked Lake and redirect them to safer areas. "We're going to be watching these wildfires in Ontario until the snow flies.'' "It makes me very nervous,'' said Jason Zabokrtsky, a wilderness guide and owner of Ely Outfitting Co. The closure - prompted by an Ontario fire approaching the BWCA's Crooked Lake on the U.S. Forest Service announced an evacuation plan and new closures in the BWCA that will cancel trips planned through the Mudro Lake entry point, a major travel route off the Echo Trail that launches eight canoe groups per day. During this period the Forest Service and BLM will prepare an environmental analysis to determine whether mining should be prohibited on these lands for 20 more years.Encroaching Canadian fires, an active wildfire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and the continuation of tinder dry conditions throughout canoe country have wedged new obstacles and anxiety into a wilderness camping season already hectic with high visitor traffic. The BLM is reviewing the application and is expected to issue notice making these lands off limits to new mining for up to two years.
In December 2016 the Forest Service found that these mineral leases posed an unacceptable risk to the Boundary Waters watershed, including from acid mine drainage, and chose not to consent to their renewal - and the BLM acted accordingly, rejecting Twin Metals' renewal application.Īlso in December 2016, the Forest Service submitted an application to the secretary of the Interior to withdraw key portions of the Boundary Waters watershed from being subject to any new mineral permits or leases. Bureau of Land Management renew its two mineral leases located within the Superior National Forest, just south of the Boundary Waters, which date back to the 1960s and had never before been subject to environmental review. In 2012 Twin Metals requested that the U.S. The Denial of Twin Metals' Mineral-lease Renewals The campaign's goal is to keep sulfide-ore copper mining out of the watershed of the Boundary Waters to protect the natural heritage of this national treasure as well as to support the stable, sustainable economy of its wilderness-edge communities. The campaign to save the Boundary Waters was first organized in 2013 by residents of northeastern Minnesota today its proponents have grown into a national coalition of nonprofit organizations and allies, including the Center.
With a potential mining area covering more than 25,000 acres, this would be the largest underground mine in Minnesota's history - and in fact one of the largest mines in the world. A large company called Twin Metals is working with Chilean mining company Antofagasta to advance its “Twin Metals mine proposal,” to be sited near the wilderness. Thousands of acres within the Boundary Waters watershed have been leased to mining companies for mineral exploration.