MN wildfires: Businesses push Walz, lawmakers for recovery package

(FOX 9) - Northeastern Minnesota businesses struggling amid the wildfires burning in the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness are pushing Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers to move forward with a special session to pass an economic recovery package.

Businesses push for special session

What we know:

In a letter to Walz and Minnesota lawmakers, 82 northeastern Minnesota businesses and nonprofits called on leaders to pass a relief package.

The letter urges the governor to call a special session to move up the timeline for the relief package.

"If Governor Walz does not convene the Legislature to extend the Peacetime Emergency, we urge that he call a Special Session to address the significant economic harm caused by the wildfires and closure of the Boundary Waters to small businesses and the people of the Boundary Waters region," the letter reads in part.

Dig deeper:

The letter also calls for:

• Grants of up to $150,000 per business or nonprofit in Cook, Lake, St. Louis, and Koochiching that have been hurt by the wildfires in 2026.
• Businesses must prove a 20% drop in gross revenue between July-August 2025 and July-August 2026, along with a written explanation about how the closure resulted in the drop.
• An accelerated program, so the grant money reaches businesses quickly.
• A direct appropriation to fund the 2026 BWCAW closure relief program.

The letter points to a similar package passed in 2022 to aid businesses during the 2021 BWCA closure and when the Canadian border closed during the pandemic.

Walz says special session unlikely

The backstory:

Gov. Walz said on July 27 he was considering calling a special session to extend the peacetime emergency for the wildfires. As part of the special session, the governor said he hoped there would be a focus on a recovery package for northern Minnesota.

However, speaking on Wednesday, given improvements made in the fire battle, the governor said he no longer thought a special session would be necessary. Instead, he said it seemed likely a relief package would be part of the regular session in January.

Originally, the governor said the special session would likely take place on Aug. 11 or 12.

What they're saying:

Gov. Walz urged lawmakers to start working now on aid packages.

"I do think it's pressing and I don't want to make light of the urgency around those businesses," Gov. Walz said. "But I think all of us, especially the reporters in this room, know that the difficulty of coming to an agreement on a special session, especially at a time of political campaigns going on, probably makes it challenging."

Gov. Walz said more than likely the relief package would get done in the regular session, but he is open to a special session.

"If we can come to some type of agreement, and we can get a package that can get forward," added Walz. "I'm certainly open to that. I would just not want to set expectations too high. I think it would be a pretty heavy political lift at this point in time."

WildfiresTim WalzMinnesota