The troubled online system to reserve permits for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness reopened on Monday, and unlike the first try this year, remained in service. The Recreation.gov system offers permits for trips into the BWCAW between May 1 and September 30, when quotas are in place to spread out use and reduce negative visitor impacts on the wilderness.
Reservations can be made at https://www.recreation.gov/permits/233396.
When it first launched on Jan. 30, the new system almost immediately started to have problems and was quickly shut down. The Forest Service and the private contractor that built the software, Booz Allen Hamilton, have been working ever since to fix the problems, test it, and prepare for launch.
“It went smoothly,” Ely Outfitting Co. owner Jason Zabokrtsky told CBS 3 Duluth. “There were some glitches, but for a new system that was really totally new and rolled out for everybody today, it went smoothly.”
High demand was reported, including long waits for telephone service, but the system seemed to mostly work as intended. “The system works great!” reported Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters.
A few changes to address issues with the new system were also made. For one thing, email addresses are no longer needed for Group Leader alternates. The system has also removed the numbers for entry points, leading to concerns about accidentally reserving the wrong type of permit for a specific entry point.
The system still uses a first-come, first-served method for doling out certain high-demand motorized permits, rather than a lottery system that had been in place for years.
Some people reported they failed to get permits for trips they had been taking annually for generations. “The Forest Service wrecked the Boundary Waters permit application system,” Twitter user Lance Johnson wrote. “[The] system is a complete joke and many locals who have gone for decades with their families were forced out.”
The region’s Congressman introduced legislation last week to force the Forest Service to reinstate a lottery for permits that was removed this year.
Lottery legislation
By about noon, most motor permits for the season had been reserved, according to outfitters who were busy securing reservations for customers.
Rep. Pete Stauber, the freshman Republican representative from Minnesota’s Eighth District, has been harshly critical of the Forest Service’s handling of the reservation system and the permit lottery. His bill would require the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to resume using a lottery system next year for overnight motor permits on a few popular lakes. He dubbed H.R. 1475 the Letting Outdoor Tourism Thrive for Every Recreation Year (LOTTERY) Act.
“Many people were concerned when the USFS made the ill-advised decision to forego the successful lottery system for a first-come, first-serve online system, and rightfully so,” he said. “I am proud to introduce the LOTTERY Act to address this undue burden.”
The bill is co-authored by fellow Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer, and Illinois Republican Darin LaHood. It was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.