Planned Spring Prescribed Burns

Per USFS:

The fire staff of the Gunflint and Tofte Ranger Stations may begin burning piles on May 1 – May 6. We have several areas where we would like to burn vegetation debris piles. We plan on burning piles at Flour Lake Piles, Squint Piles, Atlas Piles in the Midtrail area up the Gunflint Trail. 

As is the case with all our prescribed burns, we will need to ensure that the weather and the environmental conditions are in line with being able to meet our objectives and to do so safely. We consult with the National Weather Service in Duluth daily when we are igniting piles to be sure that forecasts are aligned with the conditions needed.

You can expect to see signs along roadways near our burns. If a burn area is accessible by ATV or foot, you can expect signs posted where we are going in. Expect there to be significant smoke impacts of short duration during ignitions in some areas. There will be firefighters on site and, if necessary, wildland engine(s). We will patrol our burns any day when fire spread is possible. We may only drive/hike in an area to check and you may not see firefighters in the vicinity the entire day. During ignitions and for a few days after ignitions the area will have residual light smoke, smoldering, some overstory trees may still have smoke/fire in them, and there may be creeping, slow moving surface spread. Our fire staff anticipate this. If there is not a threat of fire spreading outside the project area, we will typically allow fire to burn. The project area may be the entire area that piles are in, such as timber sale or, like with Firewise Pits, just the area directly adjacent to the pile(s).

If you see fire or smoke in an area you don’t believe it should be, please call the Forest Service. For Gunflint Office: 218-387-1750 and for Tofte Office: 218-663-8060.

Links to Prescribed Burn Maps: Wampus Flour Map, Atlas Area Map, Atlas UFR Map

(Gunflint and Tofte Districts) of the forest include:
• Fiddle Creek (695 acres) is located approximately 13 miles up the Gunflint Trail and five miles west off the South Brule Road in Cook County.
• Hungry (81 acres) is located approximately one mile northwest of the Devils Track Campground and boat access off Cook County Road 8-Devils Track Road.
• Sunfish Lake (775 acres) is located south of Greenwood Lake off the Gunflint Trail. This unit is combined Forest Service and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources management land.
• Kawishiwi Lakes (1,911 acres) is in the Kawishiwi Lakes Roadless Area approximately 18 miles north of Tofte at the intersection of the Sawbill Trail and the Perent Lake Road.
• Shack Units and Elixir (142 acres) are approximately eight miles northeast of Isabella, along the Wanless Road.
• Tail (456 acres) is located approximately 15 miles up the Sawbill Trail north of Tofte.
• Tanner (226 acres) is located approximately six miles east of Isabella, off Forest Road 172 and Forest Road 174 in Lake County.

Residents may experience smoke during the prescribed burns. For air quality information, visit AirNow (https://fire.airnow.gov/) or download the AirNow app. When driving, slow down and turn on your headlights if you encounter smoke on the road.

Forest Service fire staff will evaluate weather conditions in the hours before a burn begins. If conditions warrant, scheduled prescribed fire activities may be canceled. Additional considerations include funding, national preparedness level (https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildlandfire/prepared.shtml#) , availability of resources and more.

Stay informed about these prescribed fires with individual maps and detailed information when scheduled:
• forest’s website alerts: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/superior/alerts
• social media channels: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SuperiorNF and X https://x.com/SuperiorNF
• InciWeb, the interagency incident information system https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/
• Sign up for e-mail notices: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/superior/keep-in-touch
Zone and individual maps will be posted when scheduled. County emergency management and MN DNR officials will be notified when burning begins.

Maps of the prescribed fire areas will be posted to the Superior NF website and individual prescribed fire information will be posted to the Superior NF Facebook and X pages. Fire staff will notify county emergency management officials when burning begins.