H.J. Res. 140 was signed into law this week, stripping federal protections from 225,000 acres surrounding the Boundary Waters. What happens now?

Experts from Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Friends of the Boundary Waters break down the state-level legal tools that can still protect this wilderness — and the path forward from here.

Guests:
Kathryn Hoffman, Executive Officer, MCEA
Joy Anderson, Supervising Attorney, MCEA
Aaron Klemz, Strategy Officer, MCEA
Chris Knopf, Executive Director, Friends of the BWCA

Support our work at Friends of the Boundary Waters and MCEA!

Visit https://www.friends-bwca.org/podcast for more information and resources from this episode.

Website:
https://www.friends-bwca.org

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BWCAW

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FriendsBWCAW

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FriendsOfTheBWCA

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/friendsbwcaw/

Donate:
https://www.friends-bwca.org/donate/

Winter in the Boundary Waters is unforgiving—and that's exactly why Minnesota author Jeff Krogstad set his thriller Disappointment Mountain there.

Jeff joins us to talk about writing wilderness fiction, the creative parallels between surviving in the backcountry and navigating life's challenges, and what the frozen north reveals about human resilience.

Plus: real bear encounters, the art of making fiction believable, and why the Boundary Waters transforms everyone who enters it.

Visit https://www.friends-bwca.org/podcast for more information and resources from this episode.

Website:
https://www.friends-bwca.org

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BWCAW

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FriendsBWCAW

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FriendsOfTheBWCA

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/friendsbwcaw/

Donate:
https://www.friends-bwca.org/donate/

How do you navigate a challenging wilderness when you can't even see it?

In this fascinating and deeply moving episode, we sit down with Kelly Carver, who has been paddling the Boundary Waters for over 40 years—including the past three decades since he became legally blind.

After being diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease following his first BWCA trip in 1982, Kelly refused to let vision loss stop him from experiencing the place where he says "part of his soul" resides.

Kelly takes us inside what it's really like to navigate the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness without sight, from paddling across lakes to mentally mapping each campsite, then ultimately rising to the challenge of completing the epic 220-mile Border Route, which included traversing the legendary nine-mile Grand Portage by himself. He shares harrowing moments—a mysterious canoe flip, 40-mph winds on Knife Lake—and magical ones, like the fox standing three feet away that he never saw coming.

Through it all, Kelly reveals what it has meant to finally embrace the word "blind" after years of fighting it, and reminds us that the wilderness belongs to everyone willing to step outside their comfort zone.

Whether you're facing your own challenges or simply want to experience the Boundary Waters through another viewpoint, Kelly's story of determination and adaptation is almost certain to change how you think about what it truly means to experience the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Visit https://www.friends-bwca.org/podcast for more information and resources from this episode.

Website:
https://www.friends-bwca.org

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BWCAW

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FriendsBWCAW

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FriendsOfTheBWCA

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/friendsbwcaw/

Donate:
https://www.friends-bwca.org/donate/