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An increase in visitors to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) over the last two seasons has been a boon to area resorts and outfitters, but the wilderness has also suffered damage from some irresponsible (or unknowing) campers and canoeists.
In light of the one-million acre parks increased popularity largely brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Forest Service has announced it will decrease the number of permits for overnight canoe trips at certain entry points from May 1 through September 30, 2022.
Just where exactly those reduction in entry point permits will take place isn’t yet known, but they will be in Ely, Tofte, and up the Gunflint Trail, and they will be limited to areas that have drawn more people than the campsites have been able to handle.
This past season there were complaints that some campsites were left with litter, live trees had been cut, soil erosion, crowding at canoe portages, and people were found camping at undesignated areas.
While numbers aren’t yet available for how many campers visited the park in 2021, the suspicion is when they do come out there will be more than 2020, which saw 165,918 visitors to the non-motorized park. That was an increase of 16 percent over 2019.
BWCAW permits will be available January 26.
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