The announcement on August 22 that the Minnesota Supreme Court would not review the Minnesota Court of Appeals decision regarding the construction of a communication tower near Ely—and near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)—was met with equal parts angst and applause.
Ely Mayor Roger Skraba and Lake County officials praised the lower court’s earlier ruling allowing AT&T to construct a 450-foot cell phone tower. Skraba is quoted in the Ely Echo stating that the decision was a “victory for the city of Ely and AT&T.”
I have friends in the Ely area who are delighted at the possibility of more reliable cell phone service. They have had, or have known people who have had, close calls—accidents or medical situations where they have needed to make a cell phone call. They are relieved that the debate and legal battles that has dragged on for at least two years has come to an end. They are ready to move on.
However, that is not the case for the organization that initiated the battle to block the cell phone tower, the Friends of the Boundary Waters. The news releases issued by the Friends group would have you believe the erection of the cell phone tower equals the end of enjoyment of the rugged and beautiful Boundary Waters.
The Friends argue that the cell tower, at 450-feet atop a ridge, will be visible on several lakes within the BWCAW up to 10 miles away. Friends Executive Director Paul Danicic explains that this would “negatively impact the scenery of the area and wilderness experience for BWCAW campers.”
I suppose it could. If those BWCAW campers let it, I suppose they could be negatively impacted.
But I hope they would choose not to be negatively impacted. I hope that as BWCAW visitors glide across the glassy surface of a lake in their canoe, instead of being irritated at the sight of a far off tower, they would enjoy seeing the rocks, sticks and occasional silvery minnow on the lake bottom through the impossibly clear water. I hope that instead of being annoyed, they would be awe-stricken at the opportunity to see eagles soaring overhead or to hear the call of a loon. I hope their eyes would focus not on a distant tower, but on the majestic, ancient white pines that decorate the shorelines.
I hope that at the end of a hard day of paddling and portaging, that a visitor would enjoy the crackle of the campfire and the smell of the wood smoke. I hope that they would look up at the sky between the branches of the venerable old pines to see the stardust overhead. I hope they hear the frogs peeping, the crickets chirping and again, the loon making its solitary call.
I sincerely hope that with all the magnificent works of Mother Nature surrounding him or her, a BWCAW visitor would choose not to be negatively affected by a glimpse of a red light atop a tower over a mile away.
People who truly love the woods and forest will not be negatively impacted. People who appreciate fresh air and sparkling water and the changing of the seasons can enjoy those things whether they are inside or outside the mythical wilderness boundary.
Our family lives on five acres just one mile outside the city of Grand Marais. Yet, when we have a bonfire in the back yard on a cool summer evening, we feel peace.
Neighbors surround us and sometimes we can hear their music or their car doors slamming or dogs barking. We can hear traffic from County Road 7, but we can also hear birds singing, leaves rustling and tree frogs chirping. The communication towers overlooking the city of Grand Marais are above us at the top of the Sawtooth Mountain Ridge. If we look up the hillside, we can see the blinking red lights. But we also see that we are sheltered by aging birch trees, aspen and scruffy looking spruce. We also enjoy the magic of lightning bugs or the dark shadows of bats flying overhead.
We could focus on the noise of civilization and the red lights of those towers and be negatively impacted. But instead we enjoy the nature surrounding us.
If the members of the Friends of the Boundary Waters can’t find peace anywhere but within the wilderness, with no sign or sound of their fellow man, I feel sorry for them.
I agree with the Friends of the Boundary Waters folks that the BWCAW is a marvelous place. Crossing the mythical wilderness boundary is almost magical. Most of the sights and sounds of our modern world drop away. We are transported to a place where we can pretend we are the only people on the planet.
But it is only pretend. Because as much as I love the peace and stillness of the BWCAW, I know it is not untrammeled by humankind. There is no place that has not been touched by someone—ancient man, pioneering loggers or miners, other paddlers— at some point. There is no place that won’t occasionally see the blinking lights of a plane or satellite far, far overhead. There is no place where another hiker or paddler won’t pass by at some point, shattering the quiet with the splash of the paddle and or the sound of conversation.
But that’s okay. I grasp my peace and solitude wherever I can find it— on a backcountry lake or trail—or in my own back yard.
I wish the Friends of the Boundary Waters could do the same.
You’re not protected by the county or
any other entity from being annoyed.
Tim Nelson,
Cook County Planning & Zoning
Director, November 2008
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