To enhance the opportunities for solitude, access to these areas is very limited. After obtaining a travel permit for the desired BWCAW entry point, you must also get special authorization from one of the USFS ranger stations where permits are picked up. Each PMA is divided into zones where only one group per night is allowed to camp. (There is no restriction on day-use activities by other groups, however.) A PMA permit only allows users to camp within the PMA zone indicated on the permit. Camping within the BWCAW remains restricted to designated campsites.
Reservations are not taken for the PMA visits. Authorizations are available only on a first-come-first-served basis. Reservations are not available through an outfitter or at a different ranger station.
United States Forest Service maps are available that show PMA zones. Recent visitors to these areas have noted that since portages haven’t been maintained for more than a decade, traveling can be difficult.
For more information about the specific locations of these remote areas, as well as the unique regulations that govern them, contact the Superior National Forest headquarters in Duluth or one of the USFS district offices listed in Chapter 2.
Paddling Along the Canadian Border
In today’s security-conscious environment, you must obtain a Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) permit if your BWCAW trip includes crossing the Canadian border. Contact the Canada Border Services Agency at least 3 to 4 weeks in advance to obtain a Remote Area Border Crossing permit. Call the Citizenship & Immigration Canada at (807) 624-2162 or visit the CIC web site at www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/rabc.html or to get an RABC permit application. Remember that permits are required for overnight and day-use entry. Check with www.ontarioparks.com to confirm your permit requirements.
A Canadian license is required if you are planning to fish in Canada or on the Canadian side of border lakes. Contact the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources at 800-667-1940 for information about non-resident fishing licenses. Licenses can be mailed to you. Visit www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/fishing for details.
If you enter the United States from Canada on your BWCAW trip, report to a Customs Border Protection (CBP) officer for inspection at the Grand Portage port of entry or designated inspection locations in Grand Marais, Crane Lake, and Ely, MN every time you enter the U.S. from Canada by boat. Visit the Customs and Border Protection website at www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/pleasure_boats/cbbl.xml. Bringing along identification documents such as a passport or birth certificate is recommended.
Visiting a Wilderness
“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
Using this definition, Congress passed the Wilderness Act of 1964 and created the National Wilderness Preservation System. Included as the only water-based wilderness, the Boundary Waters is one of the most recognized wilderness area in America. Many of the 250,000 annual visitors to the BWCAW are not familiar with minimum-impact camping techniques and the need to protect the natural resources from damage. Litter strewn along portages and left in fire grates; birch trees stripped of bark; red and white pines with carved initials; and fire-blackened areas resulting from campfires left burning are just some of the signs of abuse seen far too often in the BWCAW.
Wilderness areas are managed to protect and maintain the environment in its natural state for our enjoyment and for the enjoyment of generations to come. The responsibility for protecting these areas lies not only with professional managers; All visitors share in this responsibility. You must realize that your place within the wilderness is not as a conqueror, but as a wise keeper and a good steward of this land and water. By ensuring a quality wilderness experience for yourself and others, you will be helping to preserve the area for generations to come.
Concern for the BWCA shouldn’t stop when you leave the waters. It’s also your responsibility to monitor the ongoing political debate that threatens to open up the area to other interests less suited to a tranquil canoe paddle. You might do this through one of the following organizations:
An organization that has worked diligently for years to protect and preserve the BWCAW is the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, 401 North Third Street, Suite 290, Minneapolis, MN 55401, 612-332-9630 or www.friends-bwca.org.
Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness is a regional grassroots organization that formed in the 1990s to represent people who believe that wilderness is good public policy and is worth defending: PO Box 625, Ely, MN 55731 or www.nmw.org.
The Izaak Walton League of America has been another long-term supporter of the Boundary Waters. The IWLA began its history of protecting what would later become the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1923 when Will Dilg, the League’s first president and founder, passionately opposed a plan to develop the area. Since then, the Izaak Walton League has brought its resources to bear whenever the BWCA has been threatened. For more information, visit www.iwla.org.
What You Can Do
What can you do? By adhering to the BWCAW rules and regulations and following Leave No Trace (LNT) principles, you can help maintain the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and preserve it as an enduring resource for future generations.
Some examples:
Be aware of campfire restrictions to prevent unwanted wild fires.
Help identify invasive species locations in the wilderness. Ask for the Non-native Invasive Species booklet available at Forest Service District offices and some cooperating businesses.
Follow Minnesota State law by packing out all paper instead of burning it. Burning paper releases harmful pollutants negatively affecting air quality.
Follow the Leave-No-Trace principle of being considerate to other visitors by letting nature’s sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices/noises, don’t crowd up at portages, and keep your dog under control to help promote opportunities for solitude.
Report any outfitter or guide that does not follow BWCAW and/or Superior National Forest rules and regulations.
Help maintain the wilderness by not creating resource damage.
Use the latrines and fire grates; do not bring glass bottles and cans; follow group and watercraft size restrictions; obtain the proper use permit; respect cultural heritage sites; do not cache equipment in the wilderness unless it’s in connection with your current visit; keep wildlife wild by not feeding them or leaving food behind for them to find; follow motor-powered regulations; use existing campsites; be prepared to prevent unnecessary search and rescues; and properly dispose of fish remains and other waste.
Wilderness Defined
There are those purists who would not classify the BWCAW as a true wilderness. In one sense, they are right. Forest Service personnel and dedicated volunteers regularly clear portage trails of fallen trees and clogging brush. Regulations require that you camp only on Forest Service campsites equipped with unmovable fire grates and box latrines. There are obvious signs all around you that other people have camped at the very same spot many, many times before.
“Wilderness”