We’re excited to paddle to Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, which established the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, America’s most popular wilderness area.

On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, which set aside an initial 9.1 million acres of wildlands, including the one million acre Boundary Waters, for the use and benefit of the American people. Over the past 50 years, Congress has added over 100 million acres to this unique land preservation system.

We’re also paddling to protect the Boundary Waters – the proposed sulfide-ore mines in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would cause acid mine drainage, threatening the pristine waters of the BWCA with sulfuric acid and other contaminants, as well as the livelihood of the 18,000 people who work in the thriving recreation and tourism industry in Northern Minnesota.

We hope you will follow along through www.PaddletoDC.org .