A good thing?  Depends on your point of view.

What I might like, I'm sure another will despise.  Try asking the landowners in those areas.

Ask Mark Zup if it was a good thing to kick his dad out of Curtain Falls.  You and I might like it, but he sure didn't.

Sig Olson used the BWCA for profit by running tourists fishing and camping and hunting with gas motors into the future BWCA.  As he aquired wealth...his view of a "good thing" changed.  Others would not be allowed to make their fortune off the land as he had been able to do.

Personally....I'm not for it.  Should it happen...you bet I'd use it.

What do you think huskerwater....a good thing?

As in all things I think it's important to take into consideration the context of when and how decisions were and are made.

Sig had his critics in Ely and he certainly traveled a slippery slope by maintaining his outfitting service while fighting for wilderness protection.  But to paint with a wide brush and claim that Sig only "changed his mind" once he could afford to ignores the fact that were it not for his efforts and that of his colleagues none of us would have the BWCAW or Q to enjoy.

Peace.

The Beav

db...that view might hold some water if I could have heard the guy say it.  Have you read any of his stuff addressing the issue of him fighting for the BWCA whilst making a living (and I've been told it was a good one) off the area?  I'd like to read it if available.

Anyway...my point in illustrating his case....a lead fighter for a place we all love, used the area for personal profit, in a manner that was in direct opposition to his later claims.  So to me there is no "right or wrong".  It's all about who has the most influence and Olson had quite abit.  Point-of-view changes too as his case highlights.  So right or wrong depends on your position in time also.

Much of this debate was captured in some past years issues of BWJ. Now there is another guy who has made a good living off of the wilderness...

Wally - No, I've not talked to him nor ever read anything he wrote other than a few quotes so I'm sure you and many others have a better perception than I do about him personally. I only know what I've heard and can only apply that to personal experience. Making a living is a necessary evil, there are different ways to go about it and ya gotta do what we're good at.

I agree, point-of skew, as it should, changes over time. In our time, the BW/Q wouldn't exist without some sort of past/present profit motive. It seems he may have had a little to do with it being what it is today.

All I'm suggesting is perhaps once he found himself on that slippery slope - he stopped, looked around and took a deep breath while wondering how he got there and where to go next.

If there is one thing I'm sure of it's that the difference between use, abuse and sheer hypocrisy is in the eye of the beholder - And in a more perfect world, what the object of our affections could mean to future generations. If making a living was the most important reason he did things, we'd certainly be discussing someplace else, someplace else  (or not).

I don't own land and am quite satisfied inside Quetico's boundary so I've no passion for that debate but if you (or anyone) has something to say on that subject, feel free to get it all out.