Andy and Sue Ahrendt
What it truly means to be a ‘Boundary Waters Family’ The Ahrendt’s personal histories are steeped in the Boundary Waters experience. Having spent summers as staff at a local camp, they …
Wilderness Voices
Hub’s Place – The Wilderness Research Center
The landscape of northeast Minnesota would look different today if not for the efforts of a Harvard educated, Chicago lawyer by the name of Frank Hubachek. Born in 1894 to parents of means and influence, Hubachek spent his boyhood holidays in northern Minnesota and learned at a young age the need to experience nature in unspoiled, unfenced settings. It may be tempting to assume that rich people don’t get their hands dirty, that Hubachek’s support was purely financial or legal and that the real firebrands of the wilderness preservation effort were the likes of Ernest Oberholtzer and Sigurd Olson, but you would be wrong.
Moments of Clarity
By Andy Wright All I’m saying is, you would just never expect to find jellyfish in the Boundary Waters. Sure, you always hope to spot wildlife on a trip; wolves, …
Big Bill Wenstrom – Last Man Standing
Sig Olson’s readers were introduced to Big Bill Wenstrom in Open Horizons (p. 97). Sig wrote: “It was Big Bill Wenstrom who taught me how to throw on a canoe. He …
Wilderness News Profile: Paul Schurke
To meet Paul Schurke in person is to forget that you are standing in the company of an Arctic explorer. He wears the crinkled eyes and bronzed face of a life …
Meet Frederick Winston, President Emeritus of the Quetico Superior Foundation
By Alissa Johnson In 1964, Fred Winston, Wilderness News editor, received an inquiry following the newsletter’s inaugural publication: “I can see that there are many sides to Minnesota’s wilderness problem. But …
The Canoe: A Vehicle for the Spirit
Childhood Memories Evoke the Stirrings of Wilderness Experience By Pat Kallemeyn, Wilderness News Contributor One of my most vivid childhood memories is of the voyager art installed in my hometown’s post …
Artist in Residence at Quetico Provincial Park
In August of 2007 watercolor artist Geri Schrab spent two weeks living her passion in Quetico Provincial Park as part of the new Artist in Residence program. Schrab was the second …
Transformation of a Landscape
What Global Warming Could Mean for the Boundary Waters By Alissa Johnson, Wilderness News Contributor Mention canoe country to any canoeist familiar with the Quetico Superior region, and an array …
A Man of the Trees
Jack Rajala has spent most of his life in the forest. He is well known in Minnesota forestry circles as an advocate for white pine restoration and as part of Rajala …
Wilderness Portrait: Chel Anderson
Chel Anderson has spent more than 30 years studying the small plants of the Quetico-Superior forest. A Plant Ecologist/Botanist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources by day and an advocate, …
The Wilderness in Winter
By Charlie Mahler Here’s a Boundary Waters route I’ll bet you haven’t paddled: East out of Snowbank Lake to Disappointment Lake through Muzzle Lake to Thomas and Frazier Lakes. It’s a …
Bill Rom the “Canoe King of Ely”
Ely, Minnesota boasts over twenty outfitters that send visitors into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Campers rent the latest gear, groan under the weight of a canoe without realizing it …
Building History
By Laura Puckett, Wilderness News Contributor As iconic as the tall pines or the swaths of exposed granite in Quetico-Superior is the image of a canoe cutting a delicate wake across …
Bill Hansen
Seeing first hand the long term wisdom contained in the Wilderness Act. Bill Hansen has had a unique relationship with the Quetico Superior region. Raised on Sawbill Lake, he saw a …
Wilderness Reflections: Paths
Along the most northern border of Minnesota, stretching from the Pigeon River to Lake Superior, is a path. The Pigeon River is shallow and very muddy. It marks the beginning of the Grand Portage, a path used by French fur traders. Thick stretches of pines line the nine mile trail. For many people the Grand Portage is a rite of passage…
A Place of Grace
When two paddles dip and swing in unison, their blades pushing the water, cutting through the air, droplets trickling in an arch as they return for another stroke, the movement of …
John S. Pillsbury, Jr. Remembers NWNL’s Ile de Bord
John S. Pillsbury, Jr. died on March 28th at the age of 92. We’ll remember John as the former chief executive of a life insurance company, a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate, a …
Don Fraser – Still Standing Up for Wilderness
by Diane Rose, Wilderness News Contributor After 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Minneapolis native Don Fraser was poised in 1978 to move on to the Senate. Politics were …
Mallard Island Ernest Oberholtzer’s Dream
The battle to spare the living wilderness is now living history and the men who fought that battle are among our quiet legends. Ober’s little island awaited it’s new mission and …