Prescribed Fire Information May 10, 2017

Date Issued: May 10, 2017

Prescribed Fire Information: 218-208-3969 or snfwestzonepio@gmail.com. For more prescribed fire information, check the Superior National Forest website: Prescribed Fire Information 

Yesterday’s Actions: On May 9, 2017 firefighters from the Superior National Forest, Montana, and Oregon successfully burned the 30 acre Old Baldy Prescribed Fire Unit and the 41 acre North Arm 8 Prescribed Fire Unit both located north of the North Arm of Burntside Lake and south of Slim Lake and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Good weather conditions of wind speed and direction, temperature, and relative humidity helped produce a very nice understory burn for fuels reduction and ecosystem management. 

Both of these prescribed fire units are well contained and will be patrolled for hotspots. 

Description: The purpose of these prescribed fires is fuel reduction and ecosystem management. Both units border a series of completed prescribed fires along the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Once completed, these fires will provide a buffer between the BWCAW and homes and camps on the North Arm Road.  Another purpose is habitat restoration for ecosystem management.  Fire kills brush and trees and opens the canopy to sun-loving plants like blueberries and oaks. The conditions under which we burned these units was designed to meet these objectives.

Location:  In northeastern Minnesota, in St. Louis County on the Kawishiwi Ranger District on the Superior National Forest northwest of the town of Ely just south of Slim Lake, outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). LEGAL: T64N R13W S27; Lat/Long: 47’ 59.355” x 91’ 58.615” (Map attached.) 

Resources:  Firefighter crews and an engine will be on site today patrolling for hotspots and monitoring the prescribed fire units.

Closures:  The southern-most campsite on Slim Lake is still closed.  Portions of the Moosehorn Loop, Old Baldy, and Slim Lake trails of the North Arm ski/hiking trail system (between the trailhead at Camp du Nord and Slim Lake) remain closed for another day or two.   

Superior National Forest Forest Service
UPDATE