Fire Risk in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area

1
Fire Risk in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area

• Presented By
• Matthew Roose
• James Cordon

2
Introduction

• Gunflint Corridor is located in the BWCA
• Located in Northern Minnesota
• Encompasses 47,669 acres
• 29,595 National Forest System lands
• private lands include 4 youth camps, 22 resorts,
  9 campgrounds, 22 boat landings
• July 4th Storm caused major blowdown of trees
• heavy rains, straight line rains exceeding 90 mph
• caused damage to 32,579 acres of land
• created fuel pathway of 80-120 ton/acre

3
Map of Affected Geographic Region

• represents
• total area
• damaged
• Green 10-33
• Yellow 34-66
• Pink 67-100

4
Blowdown Photos
5
Use and Non-Use Values

• Recreation
• hunting, fishing, camping, sailing, canoeing,
• kayaking, hiking, X-country skiing, snow-shoeing
• Natural Ecosystem
• bears, wolves, raccoons, eagles, owls, northern
  pike, walleye, bass
• clean air, clean water, natural aesthetic views

6
Market Failures

• Negative Externalities
• land issues affected area has many different
  owners (federal, state, private)
• a fire started on private land would easily
  travel to government lands, the reverse is also
  true
• private parties do not feel responsible for
  government lands
• boundaries are not well defined

7
Market Failures, cont.

• Public Goods
• private parties can access good without cost
• private individuals do not understand that their
  land effects others
• proper amount of cleanup is not accomplished
• private parties can experience non-use values at
  no cost
• free-riding is present

8
Policy Options

• Must address the issues raised in market failures
  
• Private Lands
• provide government subsidy to private land owners
  to abate cleanup costs
• police private lands to ensure proper amount of
  cleanup occurs
• machine crushing
• prescribed burning
• machine pile and burn
• chip material and haul

9
Policy Options, cont.

• Public Lands
• government should contract timber companies
• they would remove the downed trees for sale in
  market place
• they will continue removing trees until it is no
  longer profitable or possible
• government will then finance the rest of cleanup
  until the efficient amount is reached
• Total cleanup unnecessary
• natural fires occur as part of ecosystem
• total cleanup is too expensive and not efficient