Former Friends director enjoyed meeting NE Minnesotans

[Lee Borgersen]

Former Friends director enjoyed meeting NE Minnesotans
Dear Editor:
During the past seven months many of you learned about me as the Executive Director of the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.  In that position I tried to reach out to all of the people in northeastern Minnesota, to make friends and build trust.  I tried to treat everyone with decency and respect, and I looked for common ground, for interests and values that unite, rather than divide us.  I felt that once trust and common ground were found, maybe we could work together to protect the wilderness and sustain the communities around it. 
I'd like to think that I was making progress.  I certainly enjoyed everybody I spoke with, and I am very grateful for the opportunity given to me by the Friends to extend my hand in friendship to the people who live around and are involved with the wilderness.
Throughout my life I have had an intense love of the BWCAW.  It is truly one of the greatest places on Earth.  But I learned during the past several months that the greatness of northeastern Minnesota is more than just the beauty and wildness of its lakes and forest.  I learned that the area's history, its people and communities, are all incredibly rich and wonderful, and that each is a critical contributor to what makes northeastern Minnesota so special and unique.
Meeting the residents around the wilderness, those who serve tourists and work as stewards of the landscape, I came to appreciate just how important and good those people are.  I realized that they are an integral part of the landscape, and that their work makes my experience of the north both possible and enjoyable.  Without the Forest Service and its dedicated workers, we would not have the wilderness; and without the communities around the wilderness, most people could not experience the treasure we all love so much.  Certainly, without the communities around the wilderness, the experience of the wilderness would be much diminished.
Understanding that, I sadly acknowledge that I had never really thanked the residents of northern Minnesota for all they do. I had taken the people and the communities for granted. And all too often, I criticized them when they didn't do or act as I wanted.  For that, I am sorry.
Wilderness is essential for our quality of life, and I have always been extremely thankful for the people who fought for its establishment and protection.  But I have also learned that we have the wilderness because of the many people who gave up their businesses, cabins and ways of life.  Some may have been compensated for their property, but no one was paid for the sacrifice of their lifestyle or for the emotional pain of their loss.  I thought about what I would do if asked to give up my cabin, which is probably the most cherished property I own, for a wilderness expansion.  My mind says that I would do it for the greater public good, but my gut tells me that it would hurt ­ terribly so, no matter how much I was paid. 
So, when talking with those people who gave up their property or parts of their lifestyle for the wilderness, I felt the hurt they must feel and I realized that I had never thanked them for what they had given.  I do so now.
While I know my thanks may sound hollow to some and will not undo the pain caused by the sacrifice, I hope it nonetheless sends a message.   I ­ and, indeed, all who love and use the wilderness ­ are deeply indebted to those who gave to make it exist.  Thank you!
Today I write not as the head of an organization but as a private person.  I have been terminated from my former position.  I write, nonetheless, knowing that I am not alone in my belief that it is time to move beyond the acrimony of the past.  It is time to come together, for we cannot preserve our fragile natural environment and the wilderness without also preserving the viability of the communities around it. For that reason, I am committed to building bridges, to helping the communities and to providing support for the stewards of our natural and cultural resources. With you, my friends, I believe we can do great things.  Our children deserve that commitment and effort.
John Roth
Minneapolis

[Lee Borgersen]

I just recieved this letter from Nancy Mc Ready ( President of the CWCS)
http://cwcs.org/
 Lee,

The following letter is from the Cook County Star in Grand Marais.  A quick check of the Friends website, there are several board members that have resigned because of Roth's firing.  I'll let you post this on the fishing forums.


From the Friends website these board members are no longer with them... Gustave Axelson; Lee Frelich; Sovatha Oum; Steve Snyder.
 
Looks like the Friends are staying extreme and got rid of an executive director that finally understood the people of northern Minnesota.

[BDub]

Last spring I met with the then newly appointed executive director of the Friends of the Boundary Waters, John Roth. We had a congenial visit discussing various issues concerning the Boundary Waters. We did not agree on all the issues, but it was a good first step at communicating the differences between the Friends and Conservationists with Common Sense (CWCS).

Evidently Roth’s ‘listening tour’ effort to communicate, gain a better understanding of the people of northeastern Minnesota and possibly find common ground was just too much for the Friends’ board of directors. Last month Roth was fired.

If you read Roth’s letter to the editor in local papers, you read that he realized what we in northeastern Minnesota have known all along - Minnesota has two national treasures, the Boundary Waters and the people who live at its door step. We love the Boundary Waters as much, if not more, than others. We choose to live and work at the edge of the wilderness because of that love for the area.

I recently spoke with Roth regarding his letter. We talked for quite some time, and even though we don’t agree on whether or not motors should be allowed in the Boundary Waters, we realized we did agree on some other public land issues, like wanting clean water, clean air, healthy forests, etc. These are the real environmental issues.

In as much as Roth thanked the people of northeastern Minnesota for their sacrifice in the name of  ‘wilderness’, I would like to thank him for making the effort to understand the sacrifice of property, businesses and loss of culture. This step in understanding may have been the key to working together to find common ground, but we will never know.

As a result of the Friends’ decision to fire Roth, four board members resigned from their board. Most notably is Lee Frelich, Professor of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota. Frelich’s resignation speaks volumes! He recently stated that the Boundary Waters we know and love today will not be the Boundary Waters of tomorrow, as forests are in constant change. Frelich also had input in a fine video, People and Forests produced by the St. Louis County Land Department.

Looks like the remaining Friends’ board of directors will continue with their extreme views of managing people rather than the resources. Like many other preservation groups, they have lost credibility as environmentalists.