Photo courtesy of Bailey Shinn A Texas family was camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness earlier this month when a wildfire took off not far from where they were staying. While camping on Pipestone Bay (Basswood Lake) Bailey Shinn,...
Hansi Johnson in Duluth. Photo by Joe Friedrichs Hansi Johnson is a Duluth resident who frequents the BWCA and Quetico. Joe from the Paddle & Portage Podcast talks with him about the ongoing BWCA closure for overnight paddling, fly fishing...
Teresa Floberg at a property managed to reduce wildfire risk near Ely. Photo by Joe Friedrichs Protective measures done in advance, that’s the key, she says. “We try to encourage homeowners to think in advance about the risks of wildfires,” says...
Towboat evacuation July 14 in the BWCA Wilderness. Submitted image The evacuation of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness largely took place July 13 and 14. The entire wilderness shut down July 14 due to wildfires and excessive heat. As...
Tom Hall, the forest supervisor for Superior National Forest, talks during a town hall in Ely July 19. Photo by Joe Friedrichs ELY – The Blueberry Festival is off. People are displaced from their homes. Vacations are scrambled. And the entire...
Laura and Matt (right) Nelson embrace after reaching the end of the Gunflint Trail following an evacuation from Quetico. Photo by Joe Friedrichs The Nelson family have been paddling in Quetico for decades. Three generations of canoe-campers have...
Evacuation of the BWCA, July 2026. Photo by Pam Wright Smoky skies, closures, evacuations, and displacement of people have dominated conversations across the Boundary Waters region during recent days. The BWCA Wilderness shut down July 14 amid a...
Ely artist Nancy Scheibe is leading the creation of the new Sig Olson mural. Photo by Joe Friedrichs Sigurd Olson was at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1954 when he noticed someone admiring a painting. Olson gave a speech the following day, where...
Kathleen Floberg is the new executive director of the Ely-based Listening Point Foundation. Photo by Joe Friedrichs Kathleen Floberg is the new executive director of the Ely-based Listening Point Foundation. The nonprofit organization is dedicated...
The Barefoot Paddler in Ely on July 3. Photo by Joe Friedrichs Mark Zimmer is the Barefoot Paddler of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. He spoke with Joe from the Paddle & Portage Podcast July 3 in the heart of Ely, the canoe capital...
Sign at an outfitter in Ely. Photo by Joe Friedrichs BOUNDARY WATERS – It’s a start. That’s been the general sentiment from outfitters and some members of the public regarding the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to increase the cost of cancelling a...
The Cache Bay Ranger Station is a southern entrance to Quetico. The results have been positive for a new telephone reporting system set up by the Canada Border Services Agency for people looking to enter Quetico from the park’s southern entrances....
