Northern Minnesota camps to reopen as wildfire conditions improve
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Two summer camps in northern Minnesota are resuming activities as wildfire conditions improve.
YMCA’s Camp Widjiwagan and Camp du Nord, both located near Ely, evacuated campers earlier this month as wildfires burned in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The camps provide wilderness adventure and environmental education to young people and families.
Both camps were evacuated July 15 as a precaution after the area reached the “Set” evacuation status on the “Ready, Set, Go” continuum. Emergency management officials downgraded the area’s status back to “Ready” this week, due to recent rains and fire crews making progress in containing the fires.
In a Facebook post, Camp Du Nord said it will reopen the camp beginning Sunday and welcome campers back next week, while continuing to closely monitor wildfire activity and changing conditions.
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Ben Hoffman, executive director of Camp Widjiwagan, said it will reopen on Friday to hold a closing ceremony for young people who’ve been traveling in the Arctic Circle for the last 39 days.
“Staff are feeling positive and excited to bring campers back to camp on Monday,” Hoffman said. “It's a big part of our tradition to bring our Arctic campers home to do a large celebration, and I think that has been really energizing to our team.”
Camp Widjiwagan will reopen for regular programs starting Monday, when 80 to 90 campers on about 16 different trips will return, Hoffman said.
“We feel confident reopening and maintaining our robust evacuation plans should conditions change,” he said.
Hoffman said he shares a feeling of loss and disappointment for those families whose trips were canceled during the closure. The camp tried to find openings for campers later in the summer or in other YMCA programs when possible, and offered a 50 percent refund to all families, he said.
During the closure, Hoffman said the camp launched trips from a different starting point, Camp Ihduhapiu in Loretto, with campers then going to places other than the BWCA.
“So we haven't inherently canceled everything, which has been welcomed,” Hoffman said.
Despite its reopening, Camp Widjiwagan won’t return entirely to normal, Hoffman said. Some historic wooden canoes are being kept off site, and other artifacts will remain in cargo trailers ready to be moved if needed.
“We’re basically getting into a place that if we do need to make the shift to whatever it might be, we've got the plans in place and the staff that have experienced it, and that we're ready,” Hoffman said.
