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Wilderness Voices

Nan Onkka: inspired by Lake Superior

Nan Onkka: inspired by Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters

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Grand Marais printmaker Nan Onkka finds inspiration in the northwoods: “The beauty, the rawness, the timelessness of the wilderness is so totally different from agricultural landscapes or urban recreational areas. I think everyone deserves the chance to experience that, and I hope that we are able to continue to protect the waters and the woods of these wild places.”

New podcasts highlight northern Minnesota

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Two new podcasts explore hot topics from Superior National Forest, the Boundary Waters and Quetico. In-depth interviews and key experts talk about everything from the challenges of wind and wilderness tripping, to this year’s ‘go-live’ day for BWCA permits.

Icy Wonderland

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“I could hear the ice shattering like panes of glass as it came ashore… One moment you can see an endless expanse of skim ice and with a shift of the wind it can be gone, waves lapping the shoreline – sculpting ice as far as the eye can see.”

Betty on Chik Wauk Cabin front porch, photograph by Anne Queenan

Wilderness Voices: Betty Vos Hemstad

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She delights in discovering the wildflowers of the Boundary Waters and was instrumental in the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center. Betty’s passion for the beauty of life on the Gunflint Trail…

For the Love of Loons

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“As twilight descended and the fire settled to glowing embers, the stillness of the night was shattered by the unmistakable tremolo of the common loon. Within moments, loons from other territories and adjacent lakes began to respond, and the air came to life with the reverberating echo that we long to hear…”

Poem: Rocky Shores

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What Wilderness Means to Me Series Submission: “Rocky shores, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, full moon paddles and islands alone, Boundary Waters you are my throne. Great wilderness of untold stories, nature is proof of your glory…”

The Wilderness of Voyageurs and What it Means to Me

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“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds…”

Ghosts of the Northwoods

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Photojournalist Ben Olson shares his trek to find Minnesota’s elusive lynx. “My obsession with Canada lynx stems from a series of unexpected events and chance encounters…” 

Wilderness Voices: Kelly Beaster

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“While I create each drawing, I get to re-visit past trips and adventures, and I notice things from the drawing itself that I didn’t from the photograph, details that were always there, but the drawing has brought out new details…”

Don Fraser Remembered (1924 – 2019)

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This week we remember and honor Don Fraser – Former U.S. Representative and Minneapolis Mayor, ‘quiet crusader’ for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Wilderness Voices: Travis Novitsky

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“Some of my most unforgettable moments are sitting on the shores of a boreal forest lake on a calm night with no wind, watching the northern lights dance overhead while the haunting calls of loons echo across the water.”