Eric and Jessa are a wonderful example of how important Wilderness is, not just for the birds and bugs, plants and the planet as a whole, but to Minnesota and our local economy. Eric and I grew up a mile away from each other in the suburbs of Chicago, but we met working at Sawbill Canoe Outfitters.
Jessa grew up in Wisconsin, but as luck would have it, was living in Ely and happened to be at the Ely Steak House for open mic night when Eric and I stopped in Ely while on a 6 week canoe trip from Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg. We caught a ride into town to pick up supplies and visit friends. After Eric and Jessa started talking I was seriously concerned that I might not get him back in the canoe the next day.
A few years later they got married and settled in Tofte, MN a couple hundred yards from Lake Superior, and stone’s throw from the Sawbill Trail, which leads north to the Boundary Waters. Like so many other people, they moved here in large part because of the pristine water and wild spaces that are abundant in northeastern Minnesota.
Clean water is critically important for communities like Ely, Grand Marais, and Tofte, not just because we need clean water to survive, but because clean water and wild spaces are a critical part of the economy. Proposed sulfide-ore copper mines threaten this precious resource, and in turn threaten our local economies and way of life.
Sign the petition @savetheBWCA and help us protect our water and our way of life.
#savetheBWCA #WildernessYear #BWCW #BoundaryWaters #WeAreTheWild #Wilderness #onlyinmn #captureMN #VasqueView
