Category: Useful Resources

Links

  • BlueRibbon Coalition
    Helping to preserve our natural resources FOR the public instead of FROM the public.
  • Ely Chamber of Commerce
    With nearly 20 entry points into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)—over one million acres of pristine forest and waterways—the Ely area is your headquarters for adventure.
  • Ely Echo
    The Ely Echo is the weekly newspaper known as the Voice of the North Country, which was founded in 1972 by Miles Aakhus.
  • International Falls Journal
  • Mesabi Daily News
  • Ely Timberjay
  • Environmental Working Group

CWCS Suggested Reading List

This collection of recommended works provides historical, cultural, and environmental perspectives relevant to the Boundary Waters region and broader land management debates.

Early Exploration and Historical Accounts

  • The Voyageur’s Highway: Minnesota’s Border Lake Land
    By Grace Lee Nute
    Traces early life in Minnesota’s northland. Focuses on voyageurs, fur traders, and travel from Lake Superior to Lake of the Woods.
  • Down from Basswood: Voice of the Border Country
    By Lynn Laitala
    Blends fiction and fact. Shares stories of Native Americans and Finnish immigrants living off the land from 1900 to 1978.
  • Root Beer Lady
    By Bob Cary
    Biography of Dorothy Molter, the last permanent Boundary Waters resident. She welcomed travelers with root beer and coffee.

Wilderness Preservation and Policy

  • Saving Quetico-Superior: A Land Set Apart
    By R. Newell Searle
    Covers the 1927–1964 movement to protect the wilderness. Details efforts and risks taken to preserve the Boundary Waters.
  • Canoe Country: An Embattled Wilderness
    By David Backes
    Examines disputes over the region’s wilderness status. Encourages reflection on what wilderness should mean to different people.
  • Troubled Waters
    By Kevin Proescholdt, Rip Rapson, and Miron L. Heinselman
    Describes efforts behind the 1978 BWCA Wilderness Act. Highlights controversial decisions and the area’s complex history.

Environmental Perspectives

  • Lob Trees in the Wilderness
    By Clifford and Isabel Ahlgren
    Explores how humans have shaped the region’s forests. Uses ecological and historical insights to tell the area’s story.
  • Green Spirit: Trees Are the Answer
    By Patrick Moore
    Argues for sustainable forestry. Written by a Greenpeace founder who later questioned the movement’s direction.
  • Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature
    Edited by William Cronon
    A collection of essays. Challenges the idea that nature must be untouched by humans to be preserved.

Critiques and Controversies in Environmentalism

  • The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World
    By Bjorn Lomborg
    Questions about environmental alarmism using data analysis. Urges readers to think critically about popular claims and sources.
  • Goodbye Green: How Extremists Stole the Environmental Movement
    By Glen A. Duncan
    Describes how environmentalism shifted from grassroots action to centralized organizations. Explores how this change affected public trust.
  • Undue Influence
    By Ron Arnold
    Reveals how environmental policies are shaped by funding and strategy. Raises concerns about land use and regulation goals.
  • The State of Fear
    By Michael Crichton
    A thriller blending fiction and fact. Questions how media and science influence public views on climate and disasters.

Regional Stories and Reflections

  • Mittens in the Boundary Waters
    By Larry Ahlman
    Fictional story of Charles “Mittens” Perkins in the 1930s. Depicts the challenges of wilderness life and the search for meaning.