On  July 4, 1999, in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), a  bizarre confluence of meteorological events resulted in the most  damaging blowdown in the region’s history. Originating over the Dakotas,  the midsummer windstorm developed amid unusually high heat and  water-saturated forests and moved steadily east, bearing down on Fargo,  North Dakota, and damaging land as it crossed the Minnesota border. Gunflint Falling tells the story of this devastating storm from the perspectives of  those who were on the ground before, during, and after the catastrophic  event—from first-time visitors to the north woods to returning paddlers  to Forest Service Rangers.

By  the time the storm began to subside, falling trees had injured  approximately sixty people, and most needed to be medevacked to safety.  Amazingly, no one died. The historic storm laid down timber that would  later blaze in the Ham Lake fire of 2007, ultimately reshaping the  region’s forests in ways we have yet to fully understand.