Bwca permit problems

[Gellar]

Did anyone try to get a permit to their favorite entry point only to be shut down by the system? http://https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/01/31/new-bwca-permit-website-shuts-down

They say it’s not because of high traffic but I have a feeling with potential mining permits on the outskirts of the bwca traffic is going to be higher than usual in the bwca.

 

[Northwoods]

Supposedly we will be able to get permits starting Feb 27th.

 

[Gellar]

I saw a press release from the forest service to the outfitters March 4th at 9 am is the word now.

 

[Northwoods]

Thanks

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

Ive notice an increase in people the last few years...
Williams and Hall say the 4th....

 

[mtmiller]

The Forest Service says it has finally fixed the bugs in a new online reservation system for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness travelers that crashed shortly after its first attempted launch last month. It's preparing to relaunch it at 9 a.m. CST on March 4.

Outfitters and other businesses on the edge of the northeastern Minnesota wilderness area were irritated that the Forest Service didn't consult them before it decided last year to move away from a lottery for awarding permits for the most highly sought entry points and dates. It switched instead to a first-come, first-served online system akin to ticket sites that get bombarded with traffic when a hot new show goes on sale.

The system didn't work when it first went live Jan. 30. The 1,200 to 1,300 people who managed to make reservations back then lost them when the system failed and will have to try again with everyone else.

What the system does
The Forest Service limits the number of parties that can enter the Boundary Waters through the most popular entry points and dates so travelers don't get too bunched up in the wilderness. For the most coveted permits — for overnight trips using motors on the few lakes where they're allowed — the Forest Service used the lottery system through last year. It had already switched to a computerized system for most other permits.

Outfitters and resorts that serve Boundary Waters visitors regularly help their guests obtain permits. Many of those business owners thought the old lottery system worked just fine and gave everybody an equal chance. They warned that the crush would overwhelm the new system. They were right.

It was "just a technical problem with the software," Lisa Radosevich-Craig, who works in external affairs for the Superior National Forest, said Friday. "Technicians and contractors have figured it out." She said they're confident of a smooth launch when the updated system goes live again, and that testing will continue.

Lawmaker reaction
Minnesota's U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar (D) and Tina Smith (D), and Rep. Pete Stauber (R), whose district includes the Boundary Waters, have taken the Forest Service to task for the hardships caused to outfitters and tourists.

"The ongoing failure to restore their ability to make reservations is simply unacceptable and needs to be solved as soon as possible," the senators said Friday in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who oversees the Forest Service. And they asked him to inform them "how the problem came to be and how you plan to hold the contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, responsible for the damage inflicted on outfitters and residents in our state."

Stauber said his office had been inundated by callers with legitimate concerns about the impacts on businesses and the local economy.

"While I understand and appreciate that the USFS wants the relaunch of this new reservation system to be a successful one, we are another week closer to the busy season at the BWCA," he said in a statement