Paul Douglas: My Eyes Are Wide Open to Boundary Waters Threats

Can we at least agree on clean water? Minnesotans love their lakes. The “quality of life” argument I heard when I moved here in 1983 is real. We live in a resort, surrounded by a magnificent constellation of inviting lakes. On any given day, we have the freedom to choose which lakes we want to enjoy — to fish, swim or cruise. This ethos cuts across the political divide. I suspect most of us do not want our lakes degraded by harmful chemicals in the water. This isn’t politics. It’s something more enduring: common sense.

The gold standard is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). My family and I have experienced the joy of portaging from lake to lake, trekking through relatively untouched wilderness, tying up our provisions in a tree so the bears wouldn’t pay us a courtesy call, and watching a Technicolor sunset with a soundtrack of loons calling out. There is nothing like it on the planet.