Superior National Forest Update: May 15

Hi.  I’m Patty Johnson, Fire Management Officer on the east zone of the Superior National Forest, with this week’s edition of the National Forest Update -  information on conditions affecting travel and recreation on the Tofte and Gunflint Districts of the Forest. For the week of May 15th, here’s what’s going on around the Forest.
Despite the morning frost and traces of snow last week, spring continues to march on.  Bloodroot and other spring wildflowers are blooming in the woods and the grass is turning from brown to green.  The spring rain has brought relief to the fire danger across the forest.  This last rain brought at least three quarters of an inch of rain to the forest, with some areas receiving up to one and a quarter inches.  Cooler, moist conditions are expected through the rest of the week, keeping fire danger low.
This is the time of year we start to gear up for our prescribed fire projects over the hill.  We burn some sites where we have harvested timber in order to prepare the soil for regeneration, and we underburn in pine stands to mimick natural fires and clear away undergrowth such as balsam fir.  Weather does not look favorable this week for prescribed burning, but we will be watching the weather to see what next week brings.  Check our website, Twitter feed, or Facebook page or look on Boreal to see if there is any fire activity planned for the areas you may be visiting.
The state and counties are lifting the spring road restrictions in the Forest.  Lake County and the state have completely removed the spring restrictions on their roads, but Cook County has only lifted restrictions on some roads at the time of this broadcast.  Our website has a link to Cook County with a current list of restricted roads.  With most weight restrictions off, loaded log trucks will be seen again on roads coming from timber harvest areas.  On the Gunflint District, you can expect logging traffic on the Shoe Lake Road, Greenwood Road, and the Gunflint Trail south of Greenwood.  On Tofte, there will be trucks on the Four Mile Grade near Harriet Lake and on Lake County 7.
Spring is also the time for planting trees.  Gunflint and Tofte Districts combined will plant over 275 thousand trees this year.  Our forest is home to over 300 species of nesting birds, and part of the reason for that is the patchy mix of areas with old trees and areas with new.  This forest mosaic provides many different habitat types for not only all those birds, but for other animals as well.  Fire, timber harvest, and replanting all work together to maintain this forest mosaic which is one of the stand-out characteristics of the Northwoods and a benefit to both birds and bird watchers.
The quota season started in May for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  That means if you are planning an overnight trip, you’ll have to be issued an entry permit at a ranger station or an area cooperator for a specific entry point and date of entry.  Usually it is best to reserve a permit through Recreation.gov, though you can also take your chances on picking one up on the day of your trip.  Our ranger stations have gone to summer hours - seven days a week from 8 to 4:30.  If you are only planning on visiting the Boundary Waters for a day trip, you can use a self-issued permit available at most entry points.  But remember to fill it out - you still need a permit to enter.  Permits help us to better distribute people across the wilderness so everyone will all have a good wilderness experience instead of a crowded one.
If you are camping outside of the Wilderness, the fee season has started at our fee campgrounds.  That means that there is water available at those campgrounds now, and garbage containers are there as well.  Several campgrounds are outfitted with bear resistant garbage containers, often a dumpster with a bar across the lid.  Even though it can be annoying, please make sure to replace the bar on the lid when you are done using the dumpster.  We really don’t want any bears associating our campgrounds with a free lunch.  And, we don’t want to pick up a dumpster’s worth of trash from the ground after the bear is through.
Wherever you are bound, either camping at Crescent Lake or canoeing on Clearwater, have a great week out in the woods.  Until next week, this has been Patty Johnson for the Superior National Forest Update.