As I discussed in my previous post, the Quetico-Superior Council began after the acceptance of Ober's program by the U.S. Forest Service. This council would be the life-saving force for Ober during his 30 year battle to protect the Boundary Waters. It saw itself as: "An international organization. . .for the sole purpose of obtaining with the consent of the Province of Ontario, a treaty between Canada and the United States to protect and expand the rare public values in the Rainy Lake watershed, which forms part of the international boundary between Ontario and Minnesota (178, Paddock)." With the council as his motivation, Ober went out into the public and scrounged up a lot of supporters; many of whom were quite famous. For example, for his council's National Board of Advisors, he managed to nab the backing of people such as Aldo Leopold, Jane Addams, and members of Teddy Roosevelt's family (to name a few).
While Backus also had a lot of important connections, his tended to be mostly conservative, industry men (comparable to the the CEOs of the U.S. today). Ober on the other hand, due to his openness and acceptance of all people, had many liberal, democratic friends but also many wealthy, conservative backers. This fact proved fatal for Backus in the end because it meant that Ober and his council were able to attract support for the Boundary Waters from both sides of the political divide, unlike Backus. This support from both sides of the divide would actually lead to quite the opportunity; the Shipstead-Newton Bill.
This was to be a major accomplishment of Ober and the Quetico-Superior Council, but like all things great, it began with baby steps. The bill was introduced to Ober in 1928, by Henrik Shipstead, a liberal senator from Minnesota. Shipstead had starting writing the bill because he agreed with Ober's program and felt that the congress should have a say in the alteration of border-lake water levels on federal land. Soon after, a Minnesota representative named Walter Newton, who had heard of the potential bill, added his support. Newton was an important factor because once Newton decided to co-author the bill, he essentially created a liberal-conservative alliance. This alliance would prove crucial towards the acceptance of the bill later on in the Minnesota legislature and the U.S. Congress.
With the bill then being promoted by two members of the Minnesota legislature, Ober and his supporters worked diligently to gain the support of the public and other influential people. It was extremely important that the bill passed in the Minnesota legislature so that it would be seen as more legitimate once it got into the hands of Congress at the next congressional session. Ober also persuaded Shipstead to tweak the bill so that it would better echo the ideas of Ober's program and thus, give more protection to the wilderness that would become the BWCAW in the future.
In the end, the Minnesota Legislature passed the bill. As Ober described in an oral interview, "It was a very long, drawn-out procedure before we got the final vote, and it was right at the end of the session that if finally went through. When it did, it went through by a large majority. The opposition was pretty well played out. As I recall it, they were left in a very lonely position." I would assume that all this incredible support came as a shock to Ober, who had underestimated the interest that his battle would create. Soon after Minnesota passed the bill, the South Dakota Legislature did also This act of allegiance by South Dakota came as a huge surprise victory for Ober since he did not actively pursue the state's support. It seems Ober was off to a very good start. Alas, the battle was just beginning but with his new-found confidence and support, there was no stopping him in his mission to protect the Boundary Waters.
Finally, it is important to remember that this bill was NOT the Boundary Waters Wilderness Act that I will discuss later on in my blog. This was solely a bill to prohibit the lakes from being dammed; it did not create the BWCAW nor did it put the land under federal protection. Nonetheless it was an extremely important step towards the creation of the BWCAW and a huge victory for Ober and the Council.
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