In an era of increasing partnership in the Quetico Superior region, the Border Lakes Partnership provides a model for what cooperative efforts can accomplish. The collaborative has been at work since 2003 developing cross-boundary strategies for managing forest resources, reducing hazardous forest fuels, and conserving biodiversity in the region. Members like the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, Superior National Forest, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Voyageurs National Park, Quetico Provincial Park, and The Nature Conservancy have worked to identify land management options that will help its partners achieve mutual goals. READ MORE>
October marked the 30th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act. Signed into law on October 21, 1978, its passage sought to bring resolution to years of debate over the best way to use and protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It was a tall order. The inclusion of the BWCA in the 1964 Wilderness Act had sparked a series of disagreements and lawsuits over the Act’s provisions for multiple use, like logging and motor use. The disagreements brought the livelihoods of local communities and outside interests looking to preserve the region’s unique characteristics into conflict; aggressive public demonstrations resulted during the 1970s… READ MORE>
One of my most vivid childhood memories is of the voyager art installed in my hometown’s post office in White Bear Lake, Minnesota; “Early Voyageurs at Portage,” a tempera by Nellie G. Best (1940), dominated the walls and ceiling. At an early age the painting stirred something in me, beckoning me. I remember considering these men with their lonesome yet resigned expressions. While my mother collected the mail I would gaze up at them picturing myself in their midst. The smell of canvas and heat in the WPA era public building enveloped my senses, pulling me into the painting. The idea of belonging to an age of exploration and discovery appealed to my young mind. READ MORE>
by Larry Christianson
Poet and pastor Larry Christianson captures the essence of the wilderness experience in a new book of poems that draw from 35 years of canoe country travel…. READ MORE>
