The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or BWCA) is a 1,090,000-acre (4,400 km2) wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in a northeastern part of Minnesota. A mixture of forests, glacial lakes, and streams, the BWCAW's preservation as a primitive wilderness began in the 1900s and culminated in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978. While a destination for canoeing, hiking, and fishing, it has also been a focus and debate for its resources in both the forest and mining industries.
Notable Minnesota figures tied to the BWCAW area include conservationist Sigurd Olson, resident Dorothy Molter ("Rootbeer Lady"), and outdoorswoman Justine Kerfoot.
July 26, 2006 - MPR’s Duluth bureau reporter Stephanie Hemphill visits some of the burned and blackened areas after the Cavity Lake wildfire. It was the largest fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in over a century, burning nearly 32-thousand acres. Hemphill toured the area with two forest service workers, Lissa Griver and Tim McKenzie. They find surprising signs that life there was not only surviving, but thriving.
July 3, 2007 - Stephanie Hemphill reports on the U.S. Forest Service facing a lawsuit over its plan to log near Trout Lake, just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
March 19, 2008 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports on ATVs in the north woods. The U.S. Forest Service is about to make a major decision about where ATVs can go and cannot go in the vast Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota. Segment includes various interviews of residents and environmentalists.
March 19, 2008 - The Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota, home to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, is planning to close some roads, and designate others for all-terrain-vehicle use. Matt Norton, a member of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, says the agency wants to convert too many old logging trails into permanent roads, encouraging motorized recreation at the expense of quiet sports.
July 8, 2008 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill looks into a Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources Minnesota report, which states a need to work smarter, and invest more, to protect the environment. The LCCMR invests about 23-million dollars a year from lottery proceeds for environmental projects. Segment includes various interviews of LCCMR group members.
July 2, 2009 - MPR’s Stepanie Hemphil visits the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to see the landscape a decade after devasting blowdown. Ten years after millions of trees blew down in Minnesota's pristine Boundary Waters Wilderness, the forest is in the midst of a comeback. Segment includes recollections from guide who experienced storm first hand.
July 2, 2009 - It's been ten years since the dramatic blowdown in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and the forest is recovering.
August 19, 2009 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports that Minnesota, and other states, are mobilizing to clean up the air in supposedly pristine areas like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park.
August 20, 2009 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports on a plan developed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency which aims to reduce haze in the Boundary Waters Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park.
June 23, 2010 - Jason Zabokrtsky, a guide and outfitter, comments on his concerns over potential pollution from copper-nickel mining close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.