Quetico Superior Foundation Board Member Profile: Dodd Cosgrove

Board member since… “It has been long enough that I have lost track. I would guess at least twenty years.”

Please tell us what your involvement with the Quetico Superior Foundation means to you:

Beginning with a trip to Trout Lake a month before the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, I have travelled the Quetico-Superior region extensively. These experiences have impressed on me the importance of having wild, untrammeled places for everyone to enjoy. The Quetico Superior Foundation gives me an opportunity to insure that this place will remain special for future generations.

What other ways have you been active in the Quetico-Superior Region?

My wife, Ann, and I have owned a cabin outside Ely, Mn for the last 18 years. I am also on the board of the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and am currently treasurer of the organization. As a cabin owner, I am involved in the Save the Boundary Waters Campaign headquartered in Ely, a coalition of regional and national environmental groups and concerned citizens led by Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness. Its goal is to prevent sulfide mining in the Boundary Waters watershed.

What is the most pressing issue you see in the region today?

There is no question that the attempt by international mining companies to mine copper in this water rich environment is the most pressing issue. Sulfide mining has never been done without significant environmental damage. The Boundary Waters Wilderness and the Quetico Provincial Park are international treasures. It would be foolhardy to permit copper mines in this area.

What’s one of your favorite memories from the Quetico-Superior Region?

In August 1991, the family took a memorable trip to Beaverhouse Lake in the Quetico. Our two children at the time were eleven and eight years old. The weather was perfect and the fishing was excellent. It was extremely satisfying for Ann and me to watch our two daughters create a permanent bond to this place. Both are avid wilderness paddlers today. I might add that our third daughter, who is also a paddler, has a degree in wildlife biology and is currently on a moose study in northeast Washington.

What’s your favorite spot or way to see the Quetico-Superior Region?

I have taken many memorable trips into this region right after ice-out in mid May. There is something special about this country when the water is high, the waterfalls and rapids are thundering, and even the minor streams are in flood stage. The forest is just beginning to come alive. Catching lake trout on the surface in early spring is a special occasion. It epitomizes the essence of a wilderness experience.