Wildfires causing “disastrous” impact on businesses
Small business owners met with state lawmakers, local officials and nonprofit leaders Friday to discuss the economic impacts the Northland wildfires have had on their tourism industry, and some of them already report “six-figure losses.”
The fires have been burning for almost a month, and a huge flare up that rapidly spread the fires on July 13 led the Forest Service to close the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for nearly two weeks during the peak of the relatively short northern Minnesota tourism season.
The roundtable discussion was organized by the Cook County Chamber of Commerce, along with State Sen. Grant Hauschild (DFL-Hermantown) and state Rep. Roger Skraba (R-Ely). It was held in Grand Marais, at Hungry Jack Lodge on the Gunflint Trail.
Cook County Commissioner Ann Sullivan said small businesses in the area are facing pushback from their insurance companies for claiming damages due to business interruption. She said some businesses have experienced losses running in between “40 to 98 percent.”
“At a time when cash flow has been turned off, the spigot is turned off, a lot of [small business owners] have large bills looming for canoe fleets, and also for merchandise and mortgages,” Sullivan said. “We heard from almost everyone that business interruption insurance coverage is either not available to them or is being denied. I have not heard one insurance company claim that they are going to support our businesses.”
Many business owners said that media coverage of the wildfires and the closure of the BWCAW exacerbated the public perception of conditions in the region, leading to a decline in patronage.
David Seaton, co-owner and operator of Hungry Jack Outfitters said he suffered a 98 percent loss in revenue, calling the month of July, “disastrous.”
“Every one of our cabins [was] canceled. Every one of our outfitting groups could not do their trip,” Seaton said. “I took a reserve cancellation yesterday from a very nice man who was not coming because he was uncertain as to whether it would be safe to come back here.”
Seaton said some of the media coverage of the wildfires and fire conditions in northeast Minnesota make it seem as though the situation is more dangerous to visitors than it actually is. He wants “to make sure that people who are making public statements are good at it, and think about how it fits in [the] context of the world in which they’re working, and what the effects those words are going to have.”
Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency on July 12, which allowed the state to allocate resources to firefighting, clean-up and recovery efforts. State lawmakers would need to meet in a special session to extend the peacetime emergency beyond 30 days.
As of Friday, it’s uncertain if Walz plans to extend the emergency declaration beyond Aug. 11, which is the 30th day of his initial declaration.
In addition to extending the peacetime emergency, the special session could also address the economic impact of the wildfires in and around the BWCAW, and lawmakers have already been discussing what an economic recovery package would look like.
Sen. Hauschild said that northeast Minnesota needs state aid, but also implored visitors to consider rebooking their cancelled trips in September and to help support the tourism economy as it recovers.
“I’m going to be advocating very strongly for a relief package,” Hauschild said. “It needs to be focused on these businesses who have been impacted. I don’t know if a special session will ultimately be needed due to that peacetime emergency, but if it is, we’re going to be ready to go.”
Rep. Skraba agrees that a relief package is needed, but he also reminded the public that it takes a lot of work to get something like that passed.
“It’s difficult. …it doesn’t just happen,” Skraba said. “There’s a lot of work to get what we want to get done, and it works both sides. …if there is a special session, we’re in favor. We will bring a bill to try to get some relief. But just to get one takes a lot. I’m hoping we do.”
