Ober's Vision

"Because this region is largely in a state of nature, Mr. Backus assumes that it is valueless; but that is exactly what constitutes its value for the public..This is one of the rarest regions on the continent, if not the world. Nowhere else is there to be found so precious and picturesque a combination of water, rock and forest, all linked together in a single maze of bewildering beauty." 

Ober had a vision. He knew that the Boundary Waters was a highly unique and beautiful wilderness that needed to be preserved for future generations. As he said in an article for American Forests and Forest Life: "It is a museum of original America. It contains the larger half of wisdom-the part that cannot be taught within-doors." The BWCAW is a living fossil of the past; an anchor to what was. Ober believed this down to his core and thus, he worked his whole life to make sure that the northern wilderness of Minnesota would be protected. 

In 1927, with Backus's dam proposal then introduced into the public, the battle was set to begin. This would be a battle consisting of Ober and the people who shared his vision of conservation versus Backus and those who were more interested in making money than appreciating what nature had to offer.  At the beginning of the battle, Backus had very little organized opposition. The U.S. government and the Canadian government were not very cohesive in their management of the wilderness that they shared. This allowed Backus more wiggle room in his attempt to dam the Rainy Lake Watershed, which would raise the water levels of what is now the Boundary waters by untold amounts. Fortunately though, there was the International Joint Commission (IJC).

The IJC was a commission set up by the two governments in 1909; its purpose was to "evaluate, arbitrate, and settle disputes arising along the shared boundary waters of the United States and Canada", as Paddock describes in his book, Keeper of the Wild. Unfortunately, this commission was not very helpful to Ober in the battle for the Boundary Waters since it leaned heavily in favor of Backus (he had connections in ALL aspects of the government). Thus, it was up to Ober and his fellow conservationists to negotiate and persuade the two governments to leave the Boundary Waters the hell alone. The battle essentially sprouted from there; with what came to be called "the program".

Ober and his many supporters believed  that the best way to fight Backus's plan was to construct a program for the Rainy Lake Watershed that would provide another option besides the Backus Plan; to show what the Quetico-Superior wilderness had to offer, besides industrial outputs. This program was written by Ober, influenced by the advice of his close friends and based on the knowledge he gained in college (studying landscape architecture), as well as throughout his life long explorations in the Northern Wilderness. It also helped that Ober understood the way of life in Northern Minnesota and the subsequent conflicting interests of the people who lived there and drew a livelihood from nature's resources. Thus, despite protests from his supporters, he was adamant that the program not over-reach; leading to his creation of the multi-use system. 

The multi-use system was a groundbreaking concept which reexamined the relationship between industry and nature. Ober's program described a scenario in which the area's natural beauty would remain undisturbed, while still allowing logging and other industries to be carried out, on a "modern-sustained yield basis".  The U.S. Forest Service had been slowly moving towards this approach, but Ober was the first person to really claim it as his own and force it into the spotlight. In order for the multi-use system to work, Ober introduced the concept of "zoning" which would allow the inner part of the Boundary Waters to be wild and untarnished, while the outskirts would contain things such as roads and cabins. This concept of zoning was a monumental concept that has kept the Boundary Waters looking exactly as it did 40-50 years ago; without it, there would have been homes all over the area and many more roads than there are now. 

As Paddock describes in his book, "Though large concessions in terms of the area to be protected would in time have to be made, the program Ober developed was to become the Magna Charta for the Quetico-Superior conservationists through most of their long struggle. It broke new ground and its concepts continue to be useful in forest planning today (p.g. 175)." Once Ober's program gained the approval of his fellow conservationists, he worked to get the support of the U.S. Forest Service. During an international forestry conference in Duluth, on November 29, 1927, the program would finally be recognized by the U.S. Forest Service. This acceptance of the program by the U.S. Forest Service, by no means killed the proposed Backus plan but alas, it did acknowledge the U.S.'s need to work with the Canadian government in preserving the Quetico-Superior wilderness.  

Also of note is that as a consequence of this conference, a new, very important organization was born. As Ober stated in an article published in American Forests and Forest Life: "A complete and carefully prepared program was then adopted, for the sole purpose of fostering a treaty and of mustering the support of all friends in both countries. The result was the Quetico-Superior Council." This council would grow to become very near and dear to Ober, especially since he was to be the elected president; even getting paid a yearly salary of $5,000. From then on, he was the head of the movement to protect the BWCAW. As usual, Ober says it best: "It happens that I was called upon in 1927 to take charge of this movement. This I agreed to do for only 6 months, but that was nearly 30 years ago. It was a night and day affair with no rest for the weary." Thank goodness Ober did not weary, for without him, who knows what would be left of the Quetico-Superior wilderness today.