Ely, MN--This week the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters' 100 Days of Action to Save the Boundary Waters looks at the world class Wilderness experience right in our own backyard. An hour and half from Duluth and less than five hours from the Twin Cities, the Boundary Waters is one of the premier Wilderness destinations in the entire world, bringing in over 150,000 visitors per year.
"Few places in this world can offer a Wilderness experience like the Boundary Waters," said Save the Boundary Waters Executive Director Tom Landwehr. "Water you can drink straight from the lake. Dark skies and majestic natural light displays. Iconic and disappearing species. The Boundary Waters is recognized by countless organizations for its wide and varied natural beauty. All of this is threatened by the proposed sulfide-ore copper mining on the very doorstep of the Wilderness."
This week the campaign will be sharing some of the stories of the thousands upon thousands of people changed forever by the natural beauty of the Wilderness. It will also highlight the Boundary Waters's designation of one of only thirteen Dark Sky Sanctuary's in the entire world, a story telling video from KEEN, and short film sponsored by Patagonia, 'A Northern Light,’ written and narrated by Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate.
Some of what makes the Boundary Waters unique:
- The Boundary Waters holds unmatched opportunity for year-round wilderness recreation. It offers 1200 miles of canoe routes, 237 miles of overnight hiking trails, 2,000 campsites, and unlimited opportunities for high-quality backcountry fishing, wildlife watching, and year-round recreational activities. (Save the Boundary Waters)
- The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is the largest National Wilderness Area east of the Rockies and north of the Everglades, covering more than 1.1 million acres within the 3-million-acre Superior National Forest, which contains 20 percent of all the fresh water in the entire National Forest System. (Save the Boundary Waters) // (US Forest Service)
- The Boundary Waters watershed forms the heart of a trans-national protected area referred to as the Quetico-Superior ecosystem. It includes the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs National Park in the U.S. and Quetico Provincial Park in Canadian. It totals nearly 2.5 million acres, making it the largest canoe-country wilderness in North America.
- In addition to the U.S. and Canada, other nations include the Grand Portage, Bois Forte, and Fond du Lac Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa, which retain treaty rights to hunt, fish, gather, and conduct cultural practices on the lands of the 1854 Treaty Ceded Territory in the U.S., and the Lac La Croix and Couchiching First Nations, whose traditional lands and waters are downstream from the Boundary Waters.
- The pristine waters and unspoiled forests of the Boundary Waters and Superior National Forest provide critical habitat for wildlife, including three federally threatened species (Canada lynx, gray wolf, northern long-eared bat), and is a refuge for moose, a species of special concern to the State of Minnesota. (Save the Boundary Waters)
- The Boundary Waters and Superior National Forest are a designated Important Bird Area, with more than 316 bird species detected, including 171 breeding species, and the highest diversity on earth of breeding warbler species. (Fitzpatrick, 2017)
100 days to Save the Boundary Waters, a multi-week campaign to demonstrate to policymakers the overwhelming support to permanently protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness from the threat of sulfide-ore copper mining. The campaign will consist of press events, videos, supporter actions, and more featuring voices from Minnesota and across the country of people that depend on the Boundary Waters for their livelihood, recreation, and clean water.