Forest Service to Relaunch Balky BWCA Permit System March 4

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) _ The U.S. Forest Service plans to relaunch a balky new Boundary Waters Canoe Area reservation system on March 4.

The system crashed when it first went live Jan. 30 on the first day to apply for permits. Only a few people were able to reserve permits before the system failed. The Forest Service says the technical issues have now been addressed.

Outfitters use the system to obtain permits for customers for popular entry points and dates. They warned officials that the crush of first-come, first-served online reservations would overwhelm its capacity. The service previously awarded scare permits by lottery.

Permits for an area where motors are allowed are especially coveted.

The Forest Service says it's confident the system will work now.

People who reserved permits earlier will have to reapply.