Sad the media doesn't do as good of job telling everyone the BWCA is OK

[CaptainMusky]

My family and I spent a week on Hungry Jack Lake. We had an absolute blast and the weather was great.

We drove down the Gunflint Trail to inspect the damage.

Sure there was visible fire damage, but to be perfectly honest, not what I had expected.

I was expecting total devastation. The way the media portrayed it, it was going to be desolate up there.

Well, I find it very frustrating that they are not doing anything to communicate how much of the BWCA was actually impacted. It seemed as though the numbers of people in the area were down dramatically.

This is do or die time for many of these businesses and they cannot afford to lose business because they don't make it up in the winter.

The media is just out to get a story and unfortunately the next story they will be interested in will either be the next fire OR the number of businesses folding up due to lack of business.

[Northlander]

I dont know, I have seen at least 2 stories that I thought were done well. They told about how many spots, camps etc. are still going and how much nature is still left to see.

I think channel 10/13 did them.

[CaptainMusky]

That may be true for those of you in the Northland, but being from Central MN, where we get all of our news from the Twin Cities affiliates, I have seen nothing.

This is the area where many of the frequenters come from.

[Steve Foss]

Very generally speaking, the larger the media outlet, the more likely bad news is to get printed/televised and good news (especially followup stories) ignored.

[threeball]

Quote:

---

That may be true for those of you in the Northland, but being from Central MN, where we get all of our news from the Twin Cities affiliates, I have seen nothing.

This is the area where many of the frequenters come from.

---

Its not a story unless they have pictures. Nothing is a better picture than fire. The news programs are now expected to make money and are merely entertainment, not news like we used to know.

[JBMasterAngler]

I agree with captainmusky. Being from st. paul all I was hearing on the news is how devastating the fire was (which it was of course), but they were making the aftermath sound like it was a total wasteland. They even said the gunflint lodge burned to the ground. I come up there in june and the aftermath along the trail really wasn't that bad...grass was already starting to grow! And the gunflint lodge was still intact...the closest sign of fire damage was on the other side of the lake in canada!

[ditchpickle6996]

The Gunflint Lodge is alive and well. Had the walleye dinner last Monday night and it was fantastic! We drove to the end of the trail and I would agree it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm in Ely 10-15 times a year but decided now is a great time to support "the trail".

[JBMasterAngler]

Try the walleye chowder next time...it is quite yummy.

[ditchpickle6996]

Had the walleye chowder before the main meal. It was so good my wife got some to go!

[CaptainMusky]

My heart goes out to some of the business owners along the trail. They have taken a bit hit because of this. I feel strongly that the media's role is to provide a service outlet for news. This means GOOD and BAD news. Now, when they spent countless hours covering the fire, they better spend a certain amount of time showing the aftermath. These poor folk's livelihoods are at stake here. My fear is that once people get turned away and go somewhere else, they will continue going there. These businesses could be impacted adversely for years to come. Oh well, I guess that will be newsworthy.

[RodNGun]

I am a Northern Minnesotan that goes to the BWCA 5 times a year, in every season. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area WILDERNESS was set aside to preserve nature in its wild state. In the natural world there is going to be over growth, blow downs, and wild fires. So a "Frequenter" to the BWCA is going up there to experience the natural world. The media coverage shouldn't discourage the true frequenter.

[spivak]

I was in Yellowstone during the summer of 1988 and the fires. I was working at Old Faithful Lodge as the fires swept through areas North of us. The park had closed areas but much of it did remain open. I remember watching the National News and seeing Dan Rather proclaiming that Yellowstone was up in flames. Everyone back home believed this to be the literal truth. The media paints with a broad brush and an individual's experience is often very different from what the viewing public sees.

I had some enjoyable nights fly fishing for browns at the edge of cutbanks on deep, cold creeks while the blue haze of the fires drifted on down. The smell of a forest fire evokes a feeling of very satisfied fishing even now for me. And, of course, Yellowstone very quickly started the cycle of fire and growth all over again.

[mrwalleye_13]

Why doesn't someone contact one of these media empires? I remember seeing daily updates to the exact areas the fire has covered... countless stories... they spent a ton of time and money making it a top story all of time... a story of growth and recovery can't be a bad thing to cover..

[Mudcutter]

same deal here. lived in MN for most of life and now in Iowa. My buddies and I goto the B-dub for whatever she throws at us. That's the wilderness, and we deal with what she deals out and love it every time. Spivak- just like the war in Iraq, i wish we would get a real report of what goes on when the fire dies down.

[Surface Tension]

The "hyping" has slowly grown on us. Kinda like the squirrelly chap that can't stop saying OMG every time something a little out of the ordinary happens only to be followed up with a quaint "I'm OK".

At sometime we(they)started calling 3" of snow became a "winter storm". Does exaggeration make for a better story, or are we just getting tired of the media being overly dramatic?

[Steve Foss]

Sometimes it doesn't occur to TV/newspaper editors that the followup can be as important as the event itself. I don't like the tendancy among larger news outlets to ignore followup any more than any of you do, and I was in that business nearly 15 years. But they're only folks, just like you, and not all of them are perfect at their jobs, just like most of you aren't, and some of them are rookies in their jobs, just like some of you.

Sometimes it takes someone like you to make a phone call to someone like them to say something like what you're saying here. They're only regular folks, just like you, and people can sit here and whine about it or they can do something about it. When I was a newspaper editor, I enjoyed taking calls like that from folks who didn't want a piece of my hide but just wanted to talk about what a good follow-up such a follow-up could be.

Of course, we could just call the WAAAmbulance.

P.S. -- I hate that "winter storm" crap, too. It's not called a storm in summer unless there's high wind and heavy rain, but in winter, any snow of a few inches is enough to call it a storm.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

I was up at Hungry Jack Memorial day weekend and we drove to the end of the gunflint and it was pretty bad. People also have to realize when that stuff burns yes everything gets chared. But as for the land, it will grow back greener then ever, and it actually started to green up somewhat when we were up there. Yes it was alot of land burnt but even if it was lighing that started the fire what are ya gonna do? Mother nature sucks sometimes but it all works out. This wasn't the only fire in BWCA history either. It is sad to see alot of buildings burn down is the tough part.

I remember hearing all the mumbo jumbo about oh you can't go up there the fires are still burning up there. And yes we did call a couple times to see if it was cool to still go up there and stuff. I get up there and burnt yes, fearing the fires were getting close NO. As I stated earlier we went to the end of the gunflint and I didn't see a hint of smoke or fire accept in our fire pits at camp(Which were allowed). They need to go back up there and do a news report on the re-growth of everything is all I am saying.

[ironman]

I must be watching different news programs. I've seen a couple reports where they showed it still open and beautiful. Even talked to one of the resort owners. So it is out there, maybe not as much as some would like, but there are other things going on.

[Pikester]

I couldn't agree more with ya CaptainMusky. I commute between Eagan and Rochester so I am lucky enough to get both media outlets and both have done a poor job about the BWCA fires. They have made it sound the the BW was burnt to the ground everywhere! I applaud the Duluth TV stations for reporting the facts and trying to get people up there to help those business owners that depend on tourist dollars!