The U.S. Forest Service has announced that the reservation system for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness should reopen for business on Feb. 27, nearly a month after the agency ordered the system shut down due to significant technical flaws.

In a statement issued Feb. 8, Forest Service officials say they expect to complete the following action items by the time the system reopens later this month:

• Fixing a technical problem in the BWCAW permit sale software.

• Additional planned training for permit cooperators who rely on the system.

• Additional testing to ensure a smooth launch of the updated system.

Once the above schedule of actions is completed the Forest Service will confirm the reopening date and move forward with public outreach to notify the public of the new reservation period.

“We deeply regret the difficulty this has caused, and I want to thank the members of the community who are working with us to make this transition to an online reservation system successful,” said Superior National Forest Supervisor Connie Cummins. “Our goal is to ensure the reservation system provides a fair and open means for the public to visit the Boundary Waters and support the local businesses that depend on this special place.”