The Voyageur's Highway: Minnesota's
Border Lake Land - by Grace Lee Nute
Excellent early history of Minnesota's northland. From Lake Superior
to Lake of the Woods, with a look at the way of life of voyageurs and
fur traders.
Saving Quetico-Superior: A Land
Set Apart - by R. Newell Searle
Covering the years from 1927 to 1964 in establishing a wilderness preservation
idea and how it affected numerous people with the creation of the Boundary
Waters. Read about what could have happened to our country's most popular
wilderness area had the plan to dam up the Ontario/ Minnesotan border
waters to produce electricity been carried out. Many Ely people had
key influence or sacrifice in what is now known as the Boundary Waters.
Goodbye Green: How Extremists Stole
the Environmental Movement from Moderate America and Killed It - by Glen A. Duncan
Duncan's work is important in two ways: first, in documenting the disintegration
of grassroots interest and involvement in the environmental movement
per se, and secondly, in providing another piece of evidence to evolving
theories of collective action. Reminiscent of movement analyses of the
1960s and 70s, Duncan's work focuses on the fatal flaw of large scale
movement-building: changes in the purpose and message that inspire grassroots
involvement, and eventually, corruption and even abandonment of the
"cause" in favor of a quest for resources and manpower simply to keep
organizations alive. The inevitable theft of power from the ordinary
citizen by competing environmental oligarchies signals a brief rise
in momentum followed by the death of the grassroots movement.
Trouble Waters - by Kevin
Proescholdt, Rip Rapson & Miron L. Heinselman
An in your face, arrogant account of how the Friends of the Boundary
Waters managed to get the 1978 BWCA Wilderness Act passed. It started
in 1975 with an idea to possibly rename the center section of the Boundary
Waters as a National Recreation Area because it didn't fit the description
of true wilderness. The area had been logged and had been populated
with numerous resorts and cabins before the 1964 Wilderness Act that
allowed the continued established uses of motorboats and snowmobiles,
and the continuation of the three truck portages.
Green Spirit: Trees are the Answer - by Patrick Moore
Written by one of the original founders of Greenpeace, and now considered
a pariah by his former colleagues for his rejection of unfounded environmental
extremism. Green Spirit - Trees are the Answer, gives us new eyes with
which to see the land, exploring the beauty, biodiversity and spirit
of forests growing back after logging. Contact Moore at: patrickmoore@home.com to order a copy.
Canoe Country: An embattled wilderness - by David Backes
Account of battles fought in creating the Boundary Waters with an acknowledgement
that the wilderness label doesn't fit. To quote the author, "If wilderness
is meant to help those who are searching for meaning, for spiritual
truths, how can we justify condemning those who see differently? In
doing so, we prove that we do not seek pure truth in wilderness, but
only justification of our selfishness and prejudices. To paraphrase
Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk best known for his book The Seven Storey
Mountain, we promote an us vs. them attitude because if we can convince
ourselves that they are wrong and we are right, then our lies and partial
truths become whole truths, and our intolerance and greed become virtues."
Root Beer Lady - by Bob
Cary
The story of the Boundary Waters 'first lady' - Dorothy Molter - and
the last resident of the Boundary Waters. Living on the Isle of Pines
on Knife Lake, Dorothy's door was always open to canoeists in the summer
and the offer of cold, homemade root beer. In the winter, there was
always a pot of steaming coffee brewing on the wood cook stove to warm
cold snowmobilers.
Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the
Human Place in Nature - Edited by William Cronon
Nature or people? The aim of legislating humans out of the wilderness
is no solution to our environmental problems, argues this book - a timely
reassessment of the environmentalist agenda by outstanding historians,
scientists, and critics.
Undue Influence - by Ron
Arnold
David Ridenour, National Center for Public Policy Research, Washington,
D.C. "Undue Influence" reveals the threat to industrial civilization
posed by environmentalism. The amount of money being spent from such
an unpublicized direction is cause for alarm by itself. What it's being
used for -- dismantling roads, dams, logging, mining, ranching, farming,
and fishing -- is truly frightening. This book should galvanize the
public to action .
The Skeptical Environmentalist:
Measuring the Real State of the World - by Bjorn Lomborg
The Skeptical Environmentalist is an interesting book that concludes that many environmental movement's
"doom and gloom" predictions are misleading and exaggerated. Lomborg,
a former member of Greenpeace, is critical of the way in which many
environmental organizations make selective and misleading use of the
scientific evidence.
The Skeptical Environmentalist offers readers a non-partisan stocktaking exercise that serves as a
useful corrective to the more alarmist accounts favored by campaign
groups and the media. It is essential reading for anybody with a serious
interest in current environmental debates.
Lomborg's book has not gone unnoticed by mainstream
environmental groups. In January's Scientific American, an 11-page editorial
attack was printed against The Skeptical Environmentalist. Scientific
American threatened a lawsuit when Lomborg (www.lomborg.org) and the
Greenspirit (www.greenspirit.com) websites printed the attack, along
with Lomborg's response. Scientific American had offered a mere one-page
response in a future publication.
Down from Basswood: Voice of the
Border Country - by Lynn Laitala
Down from Basswood is a compilation of stories of the Native Americans and Finnish immigrants
of the northern region of Minnesota. It tells how lives were carved
out of the rugged North Country, living off the land - fishing, hunting,
trapping, ricing, and berry picking. Stories of how Native Americans
were driven from their lands and forced to live on reservations after
the government destroyed their villages on Basswood Lake.
Laitala mixes fact with fiction, weaving stories with
insight, humor and a great understanding of the culture of these first
tenants of Northern Minnesota. Included are a few stories about Sigurd
Olson's first canoe trip and how he came to realize 'that there had
to be a way to make money off this country.'
This is the history of the North Country. A history
we shouldn't forget.
Words from Lynn Laitala
Since Sigurd Olson, wilderness
propaganda has promoted the border lakes region as a land set apart,
empty of human community, where tourists can experience solitude. The
people it raised and nurtured remember those lakes and woods as home.
It was home to many peoples, from many parts of the earth. The land
and the water were their common source of sustenance. The communities
they created were as beautiful as the lakes and forests, rich in diversity,
founded on trust.
The propaganda of the campaign for wilderness legislation
has denied the history and values of the inhabitants. Among ourselves
we tell what it was like - sharing memories of the time when we could
stash a boat, tow a canoe, leave our cabins open with matches and firewood
for stranded travelers. A time when we greeted all we met in friendship.
I have tried to recreate a glimpse into that past
through fiction. Down from Basswood follows the stories of three generations
of families from 1900 to 1978. Each character tells their story. Together
they sketch a history of the place.
Down from Basswood can be ordered for $17 ppd. From:
BASSWOOD
10549 Grange Rd NW
Bemidji, MN 56601
Mittens in the Boundary Waters - By Larry Ahlman
Set in the 1930s, Mittens in the Boundary Waters is
a story about a big, hefty buffoon, Charles Perkins. Known as Mittens
because of his penchant for wearing big gloves on his cold-sensitive
hands, he was a fellow from St. Paul, MN in search of his dream like
so many people, even today.
Whether fact or fiction, Mittens in the Boundary Waters
is a good read about the tough times of living off the land and realizing
that the solitude of the wilderness isn't always your friend.
Mittens in the Boundary Waters is available in bookstores or may be ordered by phone for $14.95 ppd.
Call 800-552-6531. |
