Famous Fire People

     The Gunflint Trail is in the news once again because of fire; thank goodness it isn’t a new fire they’re talking about.  Scientists, professors and even the common folk are interested in the effects of fires in the Boundary Waters. 

     Last weekend Dr. Lee Frelich from the University of Minnesota gave a presentation about fire ecology and the Boundary Waters.  Dr. Frelich is very familiar with the BWCA and has several sites in the wilderness he has been monitoring for a number of years.  Lucky for him many of these sites were in areas that were burned during the Ham Lake Fire or previous year’s fires.  This has given Dr. Frelich the unique opportunity to record changes and make predictions about how fire in the BWCA will affect the changing wilderness.  He spoke on August 26th, to a crowd of over 100 people and then led a tour through some of the burned areas on August 27th.  To listen to what Dr. Frelich has to say check out this website.

     Our neighbors at Tuscarora hosted a television crew earlier this summer.  They were interested in seeing the burn and post-fire recovery so they could produce a segment for the show Minnesota Bound.  I wasn’t lucky enough to be able to paddle with my friend Sue but their story will be aired soon.  To catch a glimpse of the story you can visit this website. 

     The Boundary Waters are more interesting now than ever.  The landscape is so unique with these small areas of burned forest there will no doubt be more scientists and classes in the wilderness.  These areas will provide years and years of unique paddling opportunities to all of the visitors of the Boundary Waters from the Gunflint Trail.