Float Planes in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

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They made interior private lands easy to access and develop.  However, eventually, unregulated floatplane traffic was identified as a detraction from the remote character of the area.  With the implementation in 1952 of an air space reservation above the BWCAW and restrictions on other motorized uses, float planes in the Wilderness became mostly a management tool for the Forest Service or for other resource agencies.  The agency planes and pilots have fulfilled essential services in support of agency programs time after time as one of the most unique aviation units in the Forest Service.

A quick trip:  

As early as the1920s, “bush” planes were used mostly by trappers and prospectors to get around the Boundary Waters region.  The Secretary of Agriculture had designated portions of the region as “roadless areas” in 1926.  In the 1930s and 40s, air travel steadily increased as more and more recreationists (primarily fishermen) and private landowners enjoyed this quick, convenient way to get to remote properties and resorts. 

Big business:  

Resort owners actually considered owning land surrounded by “hundreds of thousands of acres of roadless government lands and water” as excellent insurance against competition.” Interest in civil aviation increased in the late 1940s after the war ended and many pilots returned home with an interest in flying. By the late 1940’s canoeists reported private planes circling, landing, and offering rides for $2.50 each.  The number of floatplanes flying out of Ely increased from a daily average of 11 floatplanes in 1945 to a daily average of 69 floatplanes by 1948.  The Region was known as the freshwater seaplane capital of the world.  This increase in air traffic raised concerns about compromising the wild character that drew people to the area in the first place.

Protected airspace: 

In  December of 1949, after many years of heated public debate at the local, regional and national level, President Truman invoked authority under Section 4 of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 and signed Executive Order 10092 to establish an airspace reservation “for national defense and other governmental purposes” over the BWCAW.  The reserve became partially effective in 1951, fully effective in 1952.   After that time flights under 4,000 feet were allowed only for “emergencies, reasons of safety, government business or rescue operations”.  In response to a series of legal challenges, federal courts upheld the executive order and the region changed from a mecca for private and commercial floatplane traffic to virtually no private flights.

Valuable management tool:  

The Forest Service had a continuing need for access to float plane services on short notice to respond to a fire or other emergencies.  The agency attempted to contract private planes for this need.  However, private planes were often not immediately available, if available at all, to respond to answer agency calls.  In 1938, the Forest Service acquired the first government floatplane, a four-seat Stinson, to be stationed at a seaplane base in Ely.  The need for aircraft grew and so the seaplane base expanded to eventually include three DeHavilland Beaver planes. 

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness includes approximately one million acres of land and waterways that lay adjacent to Canada without roads, train tracks, or bridges.  Use of the floatplanes within the air reservation over the Wilderness for agency purposes is carefully evaluated.

The primary role of the Ely seaplane base is wildfire protection in terms of reconnaissance, crew and equipment transport, lead plane for larger tankers, or as an air attack platform.  A particularly useful function is water dropping from the 125 gallon tank that can be filled quickly and dropped on fire starts in some of the most remote areas. 

The lack of private floatplanes in the area along with the versatility of the Beavers makes them a valuable resource for other agencies beyond the Forest Service, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 

In addition to fire reconnaissance and response, the Superior National Response relies on the agency floatplanes for:

• Search and rescue operations in the wilderness
• Seeding
• Inventory
• Aerial photography
• Resource assessments
• Fisheries and Wildlife