Back about 1957, I took a course in conservation. We were concerned about saving land from erosion.  The term we use now is environmentalist. This broader term includes everything we come in contact with in our daily lives. Most important the air we breath and the water we consume.

Way back, about 1900, the President of the U.S was concerned with saving or setting aside land for parks in our expanding nation. The land he was interested in was natures beauty. Those parks now offer a place for citizens to enjoy today and in the future.

Our own home State has one such place called BWCA – Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It is located in the Northeastern part of the state that borders Canada. This pristine area is set aside to be enjoyed by folks who can travel by canoe. Canada has set aside a like area, adjoining BWCA. An act of Congress made these special places available for viewing and recreation.

Two men that spent much time in these wilderness places were Sigurd Olson and Calvin Rutstrum. They came from different backgrounds but had an intense love for nature. Both spent time testifying at special hearings to set aside this area for the public to enjoy.

Sigurd Olson wrote stories about Minnesota wilderness areas, taught environment classes at Northland College, and promoted saving the natural beauty of our state. 

Calvin Rustrum, not formerly educated, brought to the public a message by writing books of his travels by canoe. After the first freeze in the fall, killing the pesty bugs, he took his canoe and traveled Northern Minnesota and Southern Ontario in Canada. He had served as a medic in World War I. He took these skills that he learned from the Indigenous people still living in the Northern areas.  The results of his experience were fifteen books. His books brought a comforting feeling to the reader, a feeling of travel by canoe through pristine country.  

Before these two men alerted Congress to set aside special Minnesota areas for the public to enjoy, a man named John Muir had arrived from Scotland. He was a naturalist who spent his life outdoors in the U.S. He made a study of birds in the Hudson Bay area, traveled in the Rocky Mountains, and made Alaska known to the people in the U.S. He was known as the “Father of the National Parks.”

Today, this beautiful country is threatened by technology that needs certain minerals to develop electronic artificial intelligence. Mining, by its nature, leaves behind a residue negatively affecting natural areas. The question is, will we have the John Muir’s, Sigurd Olson’s and Calvin Rustrom’s to educate us on the necessity of preserving the natural beauty of our country?