The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
"The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) is 1.1 million acres of pure wilderness located in the northeastern part of Minnesota. The BWCA is surrounded by the three million acre Superior National Forest and borders the 1.2 million acre Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. Located within the BWCA is 1500 miles of canoe routes, over 1000 lakes and streams, 2000 designated campsites, and billions of trees."- Stephen Wilburs
The BWCA has a history of heated debate caused by recreation/ motor, logging, and mining right disagreements. These disagreements were solved by the Boundary Waters Act of 1978 which bans mechanized recreation, snowmobiles, ATV's, motorized equipment, logging, mining in the protection area, and motor boat use an all but 14 lakes. The solution to these problems took a long time to reach because of differing opinions on the rights and responsibilities of BWCA users.
"The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is the only place in the
world where you can enjoy a true wilderness experience"- Betsy Daub, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.