Fantastic article and audio on the great Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This is quite a hot topic these days as controversy ( some real, some forced ) lingers. Some folks want to see the BWCAW turned into nothing but motors and sold off to private development. Thankfully, the BWCAW was created with the help of people who were not shortsighted in that regard.

audio link:

http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/news/features/2003/10/21_kelleherb_bwca

article link:

 http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2003/10/21_kelleherb_bwca/

Ely, Minn. — This time of year, Sawbill Lake’s mirror surface reflects an impenetrable wall of pine green, maple red and aspen gold. The air carries a a cool, Christmasy blend of balsam and sweet fresh water. And sometimes when the wind drops, there’s almost no sound at all.

Canoe outfitter Bill Hansen has lived much of his life on the banks of Sawbill Lake, a southern access to the one million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

“I can’t believe it’s been 25 years already,” he says.