Five BWCA campsites closed due to bear activity

The U.S. Forest Service - Superior National Forest announced the closure of several campsites in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness this week due to a number of negative human/bear interactions. The Forest Service has closed five campsites on Alpine Lake. 

The Forest Service also urges caution on Red Rock and Seagull lakes. 

Click here to see a map of the closed campsites on Alpine Lake, as well as nearby lakes where bear encounters and/or visitations have taken place. 

Forest Service wilderness rangers and cooperating outfitters on the Gunflint Trail are monitoring all of these areas. It is hoped that bear that have become habituated to the Alpine Lake campsites will leave if there are no longer humans and food at those sites. 

For more information from the U.S. Forest Service on camping safely in bear country, click here. 

WTIP's Rhonda Silence spoke with Gunflint District Ranger Michael Crotteau about the bear situation in the Gunflint area of the BWCA. Here's their conversation.