Goal

To support allowing natural fire in the wilderness to the greatest extent possible. To move toward and replicate a natural fire regime, we support prescribed fires that mimic the ecological effects of natural fires.

Background

The BWCA Wilderness, a million-acre unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System in northeastern Minnesota's Superior National Forest, is the most popular, most loved, and most visited wilderness in the nation. Approximately 200,000 people visit the Boundary Waters annually, accounting for about 1.5 million recreation visitor days of use, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

On July 4, 1999, a powerful windstorm blew through the BWCA Wilderness and Superior National Forest, blowing down over 30 million trees in over 400,000 acres of northeastern Minnesota. A major factor contributing to the extent of the blowdown was a century of fire suppression (putting out fires once they begin), creating a condition where a vast area of older forest was highly susceptible to wind throw.

In response to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for implementing prescribed fire within the BWCA Wilderness, the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness submitted a formal comment letter to the Forest Service supporting the prescribed burns but requested that they be implemented in a manner that mimics the natural and historic fire regime. In the Final EIS, released in May 2001, the U.S. Forest Service outlined a burn plan similar to the one proposed by the Friends. The Forest Service began prescribed burns in the fall of 2001. Burns will continue for the next several years.

Reasons for Support

In principle, the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness supports restoring fire in the wilderness ecosystem for the following reasons:

• Up until the 20th century, fires renewed the forest of the BWCA Wilderness time and time again. The forest is a fire-dependent forest, and the fires have shaped the forest of the Boundary Waters more than almost any other single factor. Species of plants and trees, such as the jack pine whose cone needs the heat of a fire to open and drop its seeds, have adapted and evolved to survive fires in the Boundary Waters. All of the current forest in the wilderness has regenerated from some disturbance such as windstorm or fire. (Dr. Miron L. Heinselman, The Boundary Waters Wilderness Ecosystem, 1996.)
• For much of the 20th century, fire suppression and fire exclusion (preventing fires from burning into the wilderness from the outside) have reduced the number of fires in the BWCA Wilderness. As a result, changes in the forest ecosystem have occurred, including the presence of an older, more mature forest that is more susceptible to wind throw than would have been true with a younger, less established forest. Again, this was a major factor contributing to the extent of the July 4th blowdown.
• Prescribed fire can restore this important agent of renewal to the wilderness ecosystem. Though prescribed fires and natural fires can have different ecological effects, depending on how a prescribed fire is planned and conducted, prescribed fire in the BWCA Wilderness has the potential to restore this natural ecosystem agent to the forests of the area. The eventual long-term goal should be to allow natural, lightning-caused fires to assume their role over time and to end human-ignited prescribed fires within the wilderness.