Walz: No need to extend peacetime emergency for Boundary Waters wildfires
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Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that he does not see a need to call a legislative special session to extend the state’s peacetime emergency declaration for the wildfires in the Boundary Waters.
Those fires, sparked by lightning, have burned tens of thousands of acres over the past month. But fire activity has been relatively calm in recent days, as hundreds of firefighters from across the country work to contain them.
At a briefing in St. Paul, Walz praised the work of those firefighters and other first responders who have helped battle the fires in the northern Minnesota wilderness.
“Great thanks and admiration to those on all levels of this fight, those firefighters who are out there — no loss of life, no significant injury, and protection of the vast majority of our infrastructure,” he said.
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The peacetime emergency is set to expire next Tuesday.
Walz also said calling a special session to address economic relief for businesses affected by the fires, and by last month’s closure of the Boundary Waters wilderness, appears unlikely at this point.
“I think all of us … know the difficulty of coming to an agreement on a special session, especially at a time of political campaigns going on — probably makes it challenging,” he said. “But look, I want to let the folks up there know — if we can come to some type of agreement and we can get a package that can get forward, I’m certainly open to that.”
Walz said the Legislature should act as soon as it can, either in a special session or the next regular session, which begins in January.
“I would encourage the Legislature to right now, start working on a package of relief for the area. We certainly can get that ready … as we assess the damage over the time,” he said. “This is the peak earnings season for many of the folks up there in Ely and in the North Country, and we want to make sure we’re there to make them as whole as possible.”
The fire has burned more than 65,000 acres in the BWCA.
