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Let us start with appreciation for all of the incredible staff, neighbors, students, families, firefighters and friends who have been leading by example over the last seven days. We are beyond grateful for the collaboration, support, understanding, and patience as we navigate this unprecedented moment. On July 13, the US Forest Service enacted a closure of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness due to wildfires caused by lightning strike. A closure of this magnitude has only happened two other times in Boundary Waters history.
All Voyageur Outward Bound students and staff are safe. The US Forest Service has extended the original closure through July 24th with an extension likely. Similarly, all scheduled Voyageur Outward Bound courses have been cancelled through the 24th including Homeplace and Twin Cities Center programming. We made these decisions by centering the safety and wellbeing of our staff and students. And we will continue to do so as we look to future decisions.
Moving forward, we are continuing to evaluate wildfire conditions, air quality, and our organization's capacity to adapt and innovate daily. Current conditions are noted below.
Wildfires
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Homeplace is not currently under direct threat of the fires and does not have plans to evacuate.The closest wildfire remains approximately 11 miles north of Homeplace.
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Local authorities continue to utilize a 3 step evacuation notification process. 1. Ready 2. Set 3. Go!
- Homeplace and its surrounding zone have not been moved to any of those three levels.
- We have plans for supporting our valued colleagues in the dogyard, and they will be moved well before any evacuation order would be issued.
- We remain vigilant and continue to prepare for a swift evacuation, should it be necessary.
- There are back-up plans being formulated for how we would operate a satellite basecamp should the need arise.
Air Quality
- The air quality across much of Minnesota continues to present significant challenge. Conditions can change quickly and frequently. As you likely know, much of the country is feeling the impact of these wildfires and those in Canada.
- We are actively monitoring a variety of reporting systems and working with local coordinators to guide operational decisions and to support the health and well-being of our staff and students (e.g. Air.gov, Watch Duty app, Windy)
We are grateful for the incredible support of our Voyageur Community. We look forward to welcoming students soon. We approach this work with the perseverance and resilience we facilitate.
For the most up-to-date information, check out the link below. |
