Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness closed due to wildfires

(KDLM) – The US Forest Service has announced that the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will be temporarily closed as fire crew battle the Greenwood Fire.

The fire, which is now estimated at 9,067 acres, is considered to be 0% contained.

The BWCAW will be closed for at least the next seven days and includes all lands, waters, trails, portages, campsite, canoe routes, and Wilderness entry points in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness are included in the closure. Permits will be canceled through at least Aug. 27.

“The Greenwood Fire is not the cause of the BWCAW closure,” said the Forest Service in a Facebook post. ” All of our fire-fighting resources respond to fires in the wilderness and in the general forest area. With all the fires we have going on, we don’t have the ability to staff all fires occurring in the remote wilderness, or the ability to divert aircraft away from fire suppression to search and rescue in the wilderness.”

The fire, which started August 15 near Aurora, is believed to have been started by a lightning strike.