Tom Hall is the forest supervisor on Superior National Forest. He arrived to the Boundary Waters region in 2022. In his first public interview with any media outlets in more than a year, Hall spoke on a variety of topics relevant to Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Below is an abbreviated transcript of the conversation between Tom Hall and Joe Friedrichs from the Paddle and Portage Podcast. Watch the video on the P&P YouTube channel to see the full conversation.

Paddle & Portage: What are some of the biggest ongoing problems from a management perspective facing the Boundary Waters at this time?

Tom Hall: Staffing is always something that we struggle with. We saw that last year in our inability to issue Boundary Waters permits at our Ely and Grand Marais offices. Issuing permits last year really relied on long standing partnerships, relationships that we had with the cooperators, both in Ely and Grand Marais and across northern Minnesota, and our ability to really rely on those relationships that we had already had. I think that there’s really emblematic of where we’ve had to go. We have quite a few fewer staff, and so we’ve had to rely on partners. We’ve had to think of doing business in a different way. How can we be more efficient? Because really, the demands aren’t less, right? If anything, there is more of what we need to do.

P&P: What is the status on proposed permit fee increases for the BWCA Wilderness?

Tom Hall: We’ve received comments. We received about 2,300 comments. About 2,000 of those were a form letter from Wilderness Watch, and so they all said the same thing. We had about 300 unique comments, and they kind of split in three different buckets. About a third were against any sort of fee increases, and maybe even just fees in general, a third were supportive, and a third were sort of mixed. You know, they were supportive of a fee increase, but maybe not this fee increase

From here, it’ll go either to a resource advisory committee or it’ll go to a fee board. And that will probably happen over the spring and summer to get into a fee board to evaluate that. They will then make a recommendation to the regional forester, who is Ken Arney, now sits out of Georgia for both the Southern Region in the Eastern Region. And then he’ll make a determination of how we move that forward, whether we do or not. And then, if that decision is made before the end of the fall this year, we would look to implement that in 2027.

P&P: What are some of the biggest ongoing problems from an ecological perspective facing the Boundary Waters at this time?

Tom Hall: Managing the Boundary Waters in any sense is complex, whether ecologically or the human environment of managing wilderness and wilderness character. And it really comes down to this: how do we manage wilderness character? How do we try to preserve that? That is what we are tasked with underneath the Wilderness Act. Humans complicate that interaction and managing of wilderness and the ecology that you sort of think of within the wilderness, whether that’s inside or outside. And so those are definitely things that we think of. How do we preserve that water quality? How do we preserve those natural systems? How do we try to limit that impact that we have, that untrammeled nature of wilderness? This includes things like fire and its role in the ecosystem. And how do you make those tradeoffs for that long term sustainability for future generations to experience this wonderful location that is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

P&P: Will there be prescribed fire in the BWCA in 2026?

Tom Hall: Yes. The Hi-Low project west of Ely definitely includes prescribed burning within the wilderness. We’ve been implementing that as we’ve been able to. So, there’s definitely prescribed burn plans that are in place for us. If we get those windows, we have the right resources for those to be successful, that that is a distinct possibility that that would occur in 2026 in the wilderness.

P&P: What’s the status of the Forest Plan revision, or amending the plan to better suit modern use and management of the BWCA?

Tom Hall: In 2024 there were two engagement periods, one sort of general related to the Forest Plan, one related to tow boats. And now we’re talking with our partners, the (Tribal) bands, the DNR, and the general public. We’re having direct conversation with our partners, and we’re doing a survey with the public on how their experiences are in the wilderness. The last time that we did this was in 2011 and this helps us to understand how people are actually using the wilderness. We call it the travel model within the Boundary Waters, to understand the use patterns and where that use gets concentrated, and what those different alternatives and what those impacts might look like related to that recreation within the wilderness. After this, we anticipate that sometime late summer, or this fall, that will come out to the public with a proposed action for the Boundary Waters Forest Plan Amendment.

P&P: Is a quota reduction for the BWCA Wilderness being discussed as part of the amendments to the Forest Plan?

Tom Hall: We just talked about congestion and overuse, degradation of natural resources and degradation of the wilderness experience, right? Those are all things that will be a part of the Forest Plan amendment. We’ll definitely look at alternatives, and what those different alternatives might look like, what our proposed action is going to be.

P&P: What’s the plan for issuing BWCA Wilderness permits at the ranger stations in 2026?

Tom Hall: The plan for 2026 will be the same as it was for 2025. Staffing has not improved for us. It has not changed. You know, there are some things that we’re working with partners and maybe temporary seasonals within the Forest Service, and that might change as we go into the season, but at this point, the plan is the same as 2025 so all of our offices would be open five days a week. Tofte would be open over the weekend. The Ely office and the Grand Marais offices would be open, but they would not issue permits. All of our other offices would issue permits. This worked last year, and this speaks to our wonderful relationship with the cooperators and the amazing work that they do.

P&P: What are some issues of interest or concern for the Tribes that they’re sharing with you and the tribal liaison and others at this time?

Tom Hall: It is always around their exercise of their Tribal treaty rights, and so access is a really big part of that, and the ability for them to exercise those rights. Whether that is wild ricing or sugar bushing or access to wildlife and hunting opportunities, those are all things that we continue to engage with the Bands on trying to make sure that we are fulfilling our Tribal trust responsibility and making sure that they have that ability to exercise their Tribal treaty rights.

P&P: The BWCA and Superior National Forest have been all over the news recently. The U.S. House of Representatives taking steps to overturn the mining ban in place on a big section of the forest, and the news that the recently retired district ranger from the Ely office is now running for the Minnesota House of Representatives. How do you navigate the news cycles?

Tom Hall: Well, I watch the news as everybody else does. You know, there’s some things that we can be reactive to, right? How do I prepare for what is the next thing that may come? What are those scenario plannings? What are those relationships? And that’s really what it comes down to, both internally and externally. What are those relationships, and what is the impact that that may have. And so that’s what I generally think about is, what are those external relationships? No matter what your political leanings are, we have relationships and working relationships with everybody, and so making sure that we understand and try to maintain those.

P&P: What’s the plan to replace the now vacant district ranger spot at the Ely office for the Forest Service following the retirement of Aaron Kania?

Tom Hall: At this point we’re having Drew Stroberg, the deputy forest supervisor, sort of fill that gap, make sure that we have that continuity of engagement, both with our staff and those external relationships. Aaron did an amazing job with those community relations, partners, all of those sorts of things. And so how do we sustain those the best that we can, until we’re able to fill that position? This is definitely a priority for us, to fill this position with the right person, knowing that it is a complex place to be a district ranger. And those relationships really matter, and so looking to fill that when we have that opportunity.

P&P: Stepping back from the news and most of these topics… How’s life up here treating you? Are you getting out in the BWCA and doing some paddling?

Tom Hall: Well, my wife, my son, and I, we love it here. You know, it feels like home. There’s lots of things that we do throughout the year.

I’ve actually been out to into the Boundary Waters quite a few times, both with staff and with my family. Trips with my staff are quite a bit different than those trips with my family, but they’re all great experiences. And you know, I think that’s part of why we love being here.

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