DULUTH — The U.S. Forest Service is kicking off what may be a two-year or longer process to update the management plan for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the first major revision in 31 years.
Superior National Forest officials are taking public comments through May 17 on what issues should be considered heading into the long process of amending the wilderness chapter of the overall forest plan.
“It’s going to be a foundational look at what may need to change in terms of policy,” said Tom Hall, supervisor of the Superior National Forest, which oversees the 1.1 million acre federal wilderness.
The last BWCAW plan was approved in 1993 and wilderness use has not only increased since then, it’s changed markedly, Hall noted. Just about all management issues are on the table — ranging from towboat use and motorboat quotas to group size, the reservation system and entry point and campsite limits.
The BWCAW is the most-visited wilderness in the federal system, and the Forest Service is often caught in the middle of a constant tug of war between visitors who want a wilder, less crowded experience and businesses that cater to tourism who want to see more unfettered use and fewer restrictions. Hall said the plan also must take into account federal laws regarding wilderness areas in addition to people’s desires for the wilderness.
Increasing visitation and changing trends in use are, in general, “adversely impacting” the BWCAW, forest officials noted in announcing the effort. “Monitoring has indicated both social and ecological impacts, such as crowding, noise, light pollution, lack of campsite availability, littering, campsite and portage erosion, campsite expansions, water quality degradation, and other issues preventing the Forest (Service) from managing to standard. There is a need to update management direction to preserve wilderness character, while providing for opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation, restoring naturalness and protecting other features of value across the wilderness.”
People are definitely interested. When the Forest Service asked for comments on the use of towboats — motorboats that ferry canoes, gear and campers across some lakes on the periphery of the wilderness, often at the start of canoe trips — they received more than 1,300 comments. The Forest Service is being sued for allegedly allowing too many towboats to operate, and the forest officials noted that “management direction in the existing Forest Plan concerning commercial towboat may need to be updated to address specific standards and guidelines to continue to preserve wilderness character and ensure compliance with the statutory limits set in the 1978 BWCAW Act.”
Other possible topics include fish stocking, outfitter and guide operations, campsite management, wildfire policy, wilderness education and wilderness research.
(Gary Meader / Duluth News Tribune)
Chris Knopf, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness advocacy group, said he expects some big changes when the management revision is finished.
“This isn’t just tinkering around the edges. … I see this as an extremely important process. It’s an opportunity to address evolving issues that are important to protect the wilderness for decades to come,” Knopf said, adding that recreational issues — including potentially restricting the number of visitors and types of uses — will likely rise to the top of the list. “We really need better data on usage that provides the basis for future policy.”
Both the number of people allowed in, and how and where they are distributed across the wilderness are likely issues, Knopf noted, such as allowing people to reserve specific campsites and not just specific entry points.
“A lot has changed since 1993. Now we have cell towers around the wilderness … How people take time off, how long their trips are, have changed. Technology has changed,” Knop noted.
Knopf said the Friends group hopes the Forest Service will tackle the issue of climate change impacts on water quality, wildlife and fish. He also hopes the Forest Service uses the new plan to tackle potential water quality issues from impacts within the BWCAW watershed but outside the wilderness proper, such as proposed copper mining near the BWCAW boundary.
Jason Zabokrtsky, owner and operator of Ely Outfitting Co., a guide and outfitting service, said he, too, expects major changes to develop in the plan amendment.
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“Management of the forest has signaled they are willing to make really significant changes to wilderness management. They showed that two years ago when they cut permits by 13%,” Zabokrtsky said. “What I’d really like to see come out of this is some real good research on wilderness use … most of the talk we hear about there being too much use comes from anecdotal stories, not from real data.”
Zabokrtsky said he expects the biggest impacts to involve motor use in the BWCAW, both day-use motor permits and towboat use. But he said the Forest Service should be careful in any efforts to reduce visitors.
“The Forest Service likes to use terms like crowded. But that’s a loaded word. I’ve never really seen it close to being crowded in a real sense,” Zabokrtsky added. “The BWCAW is one of the world’s great outdoor experiences. To say we need to limit people or prevent people from experiencing that to protect it, that doesn’t seem right.”
Informal discussion starts now
The process won’t be quick. The Forest Service is taking public comments on what issues it should study as part of a formal, in-depth environmental impact statement required by the National Environmental Policy Act. That formal process won’t happen until 2025, Hall said, with a draft out late that year for another round of public comments and a final plan not expected until April 2026.
And that’s if there aren’t any unforeseen issues, Hall noted, which could push the final plan out longer.
“Right now, we’re just in the exploration stage. What are the issues people care about? We are working to develop collaborative input to tell us what we should be looking at,” Hall said.
The Forest Service has reached out to Ojibwe bands in the region, local business groups such as outfitters and lodges, as well as local residents and groups focused on protecting the BWCAW in addition to people who canoe, camp, fish, hike, snowshoe and ski there.
What won’t be changing as a result of the process, Hall noted, are the specific rules, restrictions and allowances built into the 1978 federal law that created the BWCAW, drew its boundaries and cemented it as part of the national wilderness system — albeit a unique member of the system since some motorized use is allowed.
Issues that have developed since 1993 — from lawsuits over towboats to complaints about permit quotas and unruly visitor use during the pandemic push to get outdoors — show that a new plan is overdue, Hall said.
“Our implementation and monitoring over the past 30 years, and changes to national wilderness management policy and guidance, has highlighted several issues affecting wilderness character in the BWCAW and the wilderness experience for visitors,” Hall noted.
Submit comments, attend meetings
The Forest Service wants your input on what BWCAW issues they should look at as part of the long revision process for the area’s wilderness plan. Comments on this stage of the process will be accepted through May 17.
Comments can be made online at fs.usda.gov/project/superior/?project=65777 or in print submitted to: Superior National Forest, RE: BWCAW Forest Plan Amendment, 8901 Grand Avenue Place, Duluth, MN 55808.
An in-person open house is scheduled for Thursday, April 11, from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Superior National Forest Headquarters, 8901 Grand Avenue Place in Duluth.
A virtual, online open house is set for April 18, from 4-6 p.m. at tinyurl.com/SNFBWCAW. Meeting ID: 289 483 854 876, passcode: XPqvvs
Did you know?
The BWCAW contains 1,175 lakes varying in size from 10 to 10,000 acres, more than 1,200 miles of canoe routes, 12 hiking trails and over 2,000 designated campsites.
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