Mission: To protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Quetico-Superior Ecosystem.

While more than 200,000 people visit the BWCAW each year, many factors threaten the wilderness character of the area, including haze, noise, logging, mining, development, fire suppression, and loss of native species.

Leading the effort to protect and restore the BWCAW from such threats is the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. The organization formed in 1976 to protect this vulnerable area and two years later shepherded legislation through Congress that brought full protection to the Boundary Waters.

Today, the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based organization of 4,000 members is a sentry against further harm in the BWCAW and the Quetico-Superior Ecosystem. By partnering with other conservation groups and activating its membership, the Friends ensures that a “voice of wilderness” is always heard during policy debates.

Whether it is proposals to sell mining rights on the 1,075,500 acre wilderness, build homes along its edge, or harvest trees near the area, the Friends’ commitment and devotion to protecting the BWCAW rings loudly.

Foremost, the Friends knows that over-development is the greatest threat to the BWCAW and the surrounding ecosystem. Not only is wildlife habitat reduced when roads and other development break up wildlands, but the essence of wildlands themselves is undermined. Therefore, the Friends has initiated a conservation plan that would re-connect the wildlands of the ecosystem that otherwise risk being cut off and isolated.

Finally, the Friends wants to bolster the BWCAW by securing land near its borders. Through its land acquisition fund and inventory of roadless areas, the Friends is finding ways to broaden the boundaries of the BWCAW and expand the wilderness character of this canoeing paradise.