Announcements:

October 09: Highway Clean-Up was a success. A collaborative service activity with Highland Bank - Ely Branch. In attendance where Rotarians Kurt, Heather and Tom, along with Six bank employees. 

October 21: Ornaments for NWP Festival of Trees. Contact Terri to RSVP. 

October 25: District Governor's visit. 

• 11:00 am meets with Board
• 12:00 pm meets with Club

Shirt orders: Terri has the six minimum required, if you are interested contact Terri ASAP.

 

Presidents' Announcements:

Angela mentioned a letter to the editor of the Ely Echo from last Saturday thanking the community for successful fundraisers and community support.

Thank you to Lisa and Cathy for publishing meeting summary.

Dean Peterson - New Member Applicant- Second meeting then will be reviewed as a new member by the board.

 

PRESENTATION:

Our presenters this week are Kurt and Barb Soderberg.

Their presentation is: 47 Days in The BWCAW - 1973.

 

Kurt Soderberg was born and raised in Ely, and Barb grew up and graduated from Tower High School, both in 1967. Both spent their first two years of college at Vermilion Community College, ultimately receiving degrees from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Barb graduated in 1972 with a degree in Physical Education and Sociology. Kurt graduated with a degree in Psychology, and a Masters in Educational Psychology.

 

They have one daughter, Erin, who has three children – a boy and twin girls who are Sophomores and a daughter who is a Senior - all attending Washburn High School in Minneapolis. They hosted many exchange students and teachers from a variety of countries including several through the Rotary Exchange Program. Erin is a professional author and her husband, Greg, works for Cargill Corporation. 

 

Kurt’s primary career was at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District in Duluth. His career began in Human Resources and ultimately brought him to the position of Executive Director. He retired in 2008. He was involved in a variety of issues that related to protection of Lake Superior, the St. Louis River, the Great Lakes, and many aspects of waste management.

 

Barb’s career was with the US Forest Service, starting first as a seasonal employee and ultimately becoming the Public Service Team Leader for the Superior National Forest in Duluth, one of the top leadership positions. She had overall responsibility for the BWCA Wilderness, recreation, trails, land purchase and exchange, special uses, heritage resources, and public information programs. Barb was among the first wildland firefighters in the US Forest Service, assigned to many western fires during the years of high fire danger. 

 

During college, Barb worked as a summer employee with the Forest Service, as did Kurt. After being married in 1970 they also became the first husband/wife wilderness ranger team in the BWCAW. That is how they spent 47 days in the wilderness. 

 

Speaker Notes:

 

Guest Speaker: Kurt and Bar Soderberg

Presentation:

A Summer in the BWACW

 

Highlights:

• First husband wife true portage crew. 
• Barb first female wilderness range in the US First Service
• Base: U S Forest Service cabin on Crooked lake

 

Work:

• Work on cabin
• Rebuilding the dock
• Cleaning campsites, public contact, enforcement of rules an areas
• Built new campsites and closed depleted sites
• Brushing
• New toilet and latrines
• Built a new portage on Horse River
• Replaced fire grates
• Tested water quality samples and general evaluation of sites lakes and portages
• Buried can piles and dumps on former resort sites and remote camp sites

 

Cabin:

• A small, homey cabin was home away from home

 

Experience and territory:

• Moved around Crooked with a 19’ square stern canoe
• Horse River and Sound, Fourteen, Horse lake, Moose Camp, etc. assessing building rehabilitation and meeting with the public
• Explored country and equipment that was abandoned by the logging companies 
• Steam hauler roads
• Still visible remains of logging camps from the turn of the century
• Horse River Portages 

 

Scenery and wildlife:

• Deer, moose, no bear 
• A lot of fauna

 

Thoughts and Reflections

• Management by the Forest Service has preserved the integrity of the BWCAW
• There were can piles, dumps or both on sites before restrictions
• Some resorts had can piles as big as the banquet areas
• Some sites were so overused they they could no longer support future use

 

Many locals used the BWCAW as their own playground and resented the rules and regulations. Some still do today, but less so.

 

Further Reflections

Changes to the BWCAW have been beneficial to our region

Credit to Paul Smith (boss) for leadership and taking a risk on us. 

 

Good Partnership

The Forest Service did not want to send a woman out with a guy (remember this was 50 years ago). Barb proposed what if it was a married couple? This would be considered. They married and went out the following spring. 

 

Barb told stories encountered. One about a man portaging a canoe who was blind. Kurt told a stories of rescues. Sometimes people enter the wilderness unprepared for the remote access when emergencies arise.

 

Fish Stories

Not much time for fishing. The worked from morning till dark.