-MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD WINNER-
CARY J. GRIFFITH
St. Paul Kickoff at Next Chapter with Chris Knopf, Chief Executive of Friends of the BWCA
Thu, Feb 08
|Saint Paul
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. Join me and Chris Knopf, CEO of Friends of the BWCA for a discussion and Q&A about the book.
Time & Location
Feb 08, 2024, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Saint Paul, 38 Snelling Ave S, St Paul, MN 55105, USA
About the event
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.