post #6

For my sixth post I decided to write about an article I found on the Ham Lake fire in 2007 by Larry Oakes. It's been a long, difficult struggle to try and find the individual who carelessly left a fire unattended in the BWCA. A 64-year-old man was indicted with the charges that he started the Ham Lake fire which burned down more than 75,000 acres of Minnesota forest. This man, Stephen Posniak, could face up to 5 years in prison and also various other 6 month sentences for other charges.

This article was really important for me to read because I feel a special connection to the BWCA. My church goes to a camp there every year, Wilderness Canoe Base. The last two summers that I went, we spent some time rebuilding and cleaning up a lot. Over 40 of the buildings on Fishhook and Dominion island (where the camp is located, attached by a suspension bridge) were burned to the ground from the Ham Lake fire. Everyone there was devastated, including us campers. My friend and I, Rachel, had made plans last summer to stay for longer as volunteers up there. Mine happened to fall through, but she felt so changed by her experience there she said that it was indescribable. Hearing her talk about everything up there (even after the huge fire) makes me feel even closer to the tragedy that happened.. It also makes me wonder how anyone could possibly be so careless as to leave a fire unattended. To burn down the beauty of the wilderness there is a horrible crime!
I don't know this for a fact, but I feel like there is a HUGE fine for the amount of damage done, and I am amazed that Stephen Posniak's sentence was only about 5 years. Although the foliage is slowing starting to regrow and bloom, many of the islands are barren and black. (Especially near base, which is right off the Gunflint Trail.) Berry bushes are abundant, though, which happened to be DELICIOUS when we were eating our food on Trail (out camping).
More and more buildings are being rebuilt at base, but the fact that the fire could have been easily prevented amazes me. It's a custom for us to douse the fire with water when we are on Trail, and leave a sprig of a spruce tree on the grate as a sign of welcome and assurance that the campsite was taken better care of than before we had come. It shocks me to think that someone would not take that good of care of God's creation in it's most pure form- It's a protected area for a reason.

Stacey