Parts of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, pictured in May, are beginning to reopen as crews contain wildfire threats. Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
Crews have made enough progress against wildfires in northeast Minnesota to lift most of the mandatory evacuation orders in Lake and St. Louis counties, officials said in a news conference yesterday.
State of play: Crews have achieved 53% containment, on average, on each of the wildfires burning in the region, a U.S. Forest Service official said.
The latest: Starting on Thursday, the Boundary Waters will reopen central and eastern portions of the wilderness for overnight camping, the Superior National Forest announced last night.
What they're saying: Gov. Tim Walz said he's giving lawmakers fair warning that, if a peacetime emergency must be extended to continue the firefight, he'll need to call a special session.
The emergency expires on primary election day, Aug. 11 — politically, a "precarious time" to call a session, Walz told reporters in Ely: "Any time we go into a special session, everybody wants to bring their bills up."
If necessary, Walz said a special session should stick to wildfire business — including potentially an economic recovery package.
