Photo:  USDA

From KBJR-TV - September 3, 2019

Anyone near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) over the next several weeks should be on the lookout for some hazy or smoky conditions.

The USDA Forest Service is planning to hold several prescribed burns in the BWCA throughout the fall season.

While the exact dates are not all that clear, the burns will take place between September 3 and the end of October.

The exact dates all depend on several major factors, which includes the following:

• Fuel moisture
• Relative humidity
• Temperature
• Wind

One of the prescribed fires will take place near Crab Lake about 8 miles northwest of Ely. This will include three separate prescribed fires in order to limit the risk of wildfires that could impact homes and business outside the BWCA.

The Forest Service have been conducting these prescribed burns in the BWCA to improve public safety and lessen the threat for wildfires by reducing the number of hazardous fuels.

This comes after a massive windstorm in July 1999 that affected nearly 500,000 acres of the Superior National Forest, which included 367,000 acres of the BWCA.

Click here for more information or here for information from the Superior National Forest Website.