Northern Minnesota wildfires now fully contained; BWCAW forests already sprouting new growth

More than two months after hot, dry winds whipped up flames sparked by lightning strikes, the wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota are now fully contained.

U.S. Forest Service officials say their firefighting crews, who have worked day and night to build containment lines and douse the flames, achieved 100 percent containment of the fires Tuesday.

Wednesday, rangers and forestry experts with the Superior National Forest took a handful of reporters into the BWCAW to see some of the fire damage up close and they saw that some new plant growth is already underway.

MPR reporter Dan Kraker was among the members of the media who went out into the wilderness area, and he reports that 100 percent containment doesn’t mean all of the fires are fully extinguished. There are likely some hot spots smoldering, deep in the soil and the duff layer on top of the ground or in the stumps of big burned trees still burning. Firefighting officials say those fires likely won’t be totally out until it snows.

The firefighting and containment effort was enormous, with more than 1,000 crew members on the ground in northern Minnesota at times this summer. Some crews battled the blazes from the air, dropping water and fire retardant from planes and helicopters. Ground crews used bulldozers and other heavy equipment to build containment lines and remove dead trees and other debris that could be fuel for the fires.

Some firefighters had to paddle in canoes into some the more remote areas where the fires burned.

The Forest Service says the fires scorched more than 71,000 acres, and the forest in some areas that used to be pretty dense is now very open. Tall trees are still standing but are charred, huge rocks that used to be hidden by the thick forest are now exposed.

But there are also many signs of new life. There are new bright green plants that stand out against the blackened trees, and there are bright pink wildflowers. Maple and aspen shoots have already sprouted, and moss has grown which helps to hold the soil in place.

Scientists say fires are a natural part of the life cycle in northern Minnesota’s boreal forests. They call it a fire adapted landscape and ecosystem. But what's uncertain is what kind of forest will grow back. The experts say the tall pines that had stood for hundreds of years may not grow back, and might be replaced by maple and aspen trees.

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