WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast WTIP North Shore Community Radio

This episode is packed with stories from the Wilderness! If you've ever wondered about the permit quota system and how that came to be, you'll want to hear Bill Hansen's interview with Jim Hulbert, one of the people who developed the very first "Visitor Distribution Program," back in the early 1970's.
There's also a new segment of "Keep it Wild," which covers BWCAW "Fishing 101." And we've also gathered up a collection of critter stories from Canoecopia 2024. We hear about a wolf "greeter," being charged by a moose, a hungry bear story and what happens when mice attack.
Thanks to everyone who shared your stories with WTIP for this diverse, fun and informative episode!
(Photo courtesy of Jim Hulbert)

Cory Dack has nearly 20 years of experience in wild places, including 17 years as a canoe guide in the BWCAW. Host Lindsey Gau talks with Cory about de-colonizing outdoor spaces, empowering youth to love the wilderness, social justice and the commonalities between "wilderness medicine" and "street medicine." Cory also shares some of the lessons learned about community building, and friendship on her seven-month through-paddle on the Mississippi River, from the headwaters to the ocean.

Plus, a new segment of "Keep it Wild," about being bear-aware in the Boundary Waters. The Boundary Waters Podcast is funded in part by the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

The Boundary Waters Podcast attended Canoecopia in early March where we were able to connect with over 30 Wilderness travelers who shared stories and travel tips with us. In this episode we hear from four: Jolene Metcalf, Seth Taft, Gillian Fitzgerald and Monica Cofell. Thanks for traveling along with us!
There is also a new segment of "Keep it Wild" about planning your early spring adventure in the BWCAW. Plus, a bonus from the archives!
Photo courtesy of Seth Taft.

Over the summer of 2023 Aurora Gallagher spent 16 days canoeing and camping in Quetico Provincial Park as part of a YMCA Camp Menogyn trip. Aurora shares what the experience was like, from one week in, then two weeks, and finally how it felt to return home. It's all here--complete with foraging, fishing, traversing over multiple beaver dams, making blueberry crisp and all of the lessons learned along the way.

Plus a new segment of Keep it Wild, our monthly check-in with the US Forest Service. This month's topics are augers in the Wilderness and summer jobs in the BWCAW.

(Photo by Kian McDonough, 2023)

The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast talks with Megan McClanahan of the US Forest Service about "Leave No Trace" principles in the winter. She covers the "dos" and "don'ts" of winter camping in the BWCAW, including harvesting firewood, where to build a fire, and what to do if you find a mess that someone else has left behind. "Keep it Wild" can be heard monthly as part of the Boundary Waters Podcast.
(Photos courtesy of USDA Forest Service, Superior NF)

This episode is built on the connection between wolves and wilderness. Featuring Ellen Hawkins, a North Shore resident who had an extraordinary wolf encounter in 1985, that has shaped the way she thinks about wolves, wilderness and humans too. After Ellen's story about "the wolf in the window," Giselle Narvaez Rivera from the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN offers some perspective on wolf-human interaction, based on the work being done at the Center to educate others about the lives, behaviors and history of wild wolves.

We also have a fresh segment of "Keep it Wild," our monthly check-in with the U.S. Forest Service. The topic of discussion is "Leave No Trace" principles in the winter season, when everything is covered in snow and ice.

Photo of a timber wolf near the Sawbill Trail in Tofte, by Clare Shirley.