Help Us Protect Northeastern Minnesota

The situation facing our region is unlike anything we've experienced in generations.

More than 17 active wildfires are burning across northeastern Minnesota, and firefighters are working around the clock to contain them. Ely—the gateway to the eastern Boundary Waters—is under the threat of evacuation, while communities throughout the region are living with uncertainty.

We're praying for rain and hoping it brings relief. But even then, the conditions are so dry that these fires are expected to burn for weeks, if not longer. We simply don't have the resources to stop every fire before more damage is done.

The flames will eventually be extinguished. The smoke will clear. But the financial devastation left behind will linger for months, and in some cases years.

As the owner of a small resort on Pelican Lake in Orr, Minnesota—a stone's throw from the Superior National Forest and Voyageurs National Park—I know firsthand how fragile a seasonal business can be.

Most of us operate on razor-thin margins. We can weather a slow season. We can survive an unexpected hardship. But facing both at the same time is something many family-owned businesses simply cannot overcome.

Reservations are disappearing. Smoke has kept visitors away. Some businesses have suffered direct losses from the fires themselves. Any one of those challenges is difficult enough. Together, they threaten businesses that have spent generations welcoming families from across the country to this remarkable corner of Minnesota.

These aren't just businesses. They're family legacies. They're the resorts where children catch their first fish. The restaurants where stories are shared after a day on the lake. The outfitters who introduce visitors to the Boundary Waters. The campgrounds, bait shops, guides, and small businesses that form the backbone of our communities. If we lose them, we lose a piece of what makes northeastern Minnesota unlike anywhere else.

As a former state lawmaker for this region and someone who worked alongside Minnesota's State Emergency Operations Center throughout the pandemic, I know the existing relief programs, while important, won't come close to meeting the need. For many of our friends, neighbors, and local businesses, the financial crisis is only beginning.

That's why I've joined with trusted friends, former colleagues, business owners, and community leaders to establish the Northeastern Minnesota BWCAW Legacy Fund.

Our vision is ambitious: to raise at least $1 million to provide financial assistance to locally owned small businesses directly impacted by these wildfires. By helping these businesses survive, we're also helping the families who own and operate them, preserving jobs, protecting livelihoods, and strengthening the communities that depend on them.

Applications for assistance will be reviewed by a volunteer committee of respected community leaders representing northeastern Minnesota—from Grand Portage to International Falls. Together, they'll help ensure funds are distributed fairly, transparently, and to the businesses with the greatest need, regardless of community or affiliation.

We are committed to complete transparency. As this effort grows, a dedicated website will provide regular updates, document every dollar donated, explain how funds are distributed, and allow supporters to follow the impact their generosity is making.

Whether you call Minnesota home or you've made lifelong memories fishing our lakes, paddling the Boundary Waters, hunting our forests, snowmobiling our trails, or simply finding peace in the Northwoods, we're asking for your help.

That's where you come in.

If you're able, please consider making a donation. Every gift—large or small—helps keep a local business open, protects jobs, and supports the families who have poured their lives into building these businesses for future generations.

If you aren't able to contribute financially, you can still make an enormous difference. Please share this campaign with your friends, family, coworkers, and social networks. Every share reaches someone new. Every new person who sees this story is another opportunity to help save a business.

The people of northeastern Minnesota have always been resilient. We know how to pull together. We know how to help our neighbors. And we know that when one community hurts, we all hurt.

Together, we can ensure that when the smoke finally clears, visitors will once again find the resorts, outfitters, restaurants, campgrounds, guides, bait shops, and family-owned businesses that have defined this region for generations.

Let's not simply rebuild what we've lost.

Let's preserve a legacy.

Thank you for standing with northeastern Minnesota.