and practicing a Leave No Trace ethic can preserve the wilderness for the generations that will follow far into the future.
The Forest Service began development of the Leave No Trace ethic in the 1960s, and by the mid-1980s had created a formal program that builds understanding and awareness of low impact camping practices. As an incorporated 501-c-3, nonprofit organization LNT now partners with the Forest Service, Department of the Interior, and National Park Service to promote the program. Learn more about Leave No Trace practices at www.lnt.org.
While planning your trip, add the 20-minute BWCAW Leave No Trace User Education video to your checklist. After viewing this video, BWCAW paddlers and campers will understand how they can preserve the long-term health of the BWCAW by following responsible recreation practices. Contact any Forest Service office to obtain a copy of the video. The following LNT advice is especially pertinent to BWCAW visitors:
BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER VISITORS: Take rest breaks away from trails, portages, and other visitors. Don’t occupy campsites for day use, as this may prevent someone from camping overnight. Respect the peace and solitude of the wilderness. Sound carries far across open water—especially on a quiet evening. Keep noise to a minimum and you’ll improve the quality of the wilderness experience for yourself and for others. You will also greatly improve your chance of seeing wildlife.
RESPECT WILDLIFE: Do not follow or approach wildlife. Never feed animals. It can damage their health and alter their natural behaviors. Protect wildlife and your food by storing rations properly. When fishing, use lead-free tackle.
DISPOSE OF WASTE PROPERLY: Pack out all trash, leftover food, and litter. Deposit human or dog waste in the latrines. Wash yourself and dishes with biodegradable soap away from streams or lakes. Remember that burning trash in fire grates is illegal. Pack it out.
TRAVEL AND CAMP ON DURABLE SURFACES: Using established trails and campsites minimizes your impact on the wilderness. Keep campsites small and stay in areas where vegetation is absent to keep the human footprint as small as practical. Leave clean campsites for those who follow. Walk in single file in the middle of the trail, even when the trail is muddy.
PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE: Know area rules and regulations. Prepare for extreme weather. Use a map and compass.
MINIMIZE CAMPFIRE IMPACTS: Use a lightweight stove for cooking. When fires are permitted, use an established fire grate and keep fires small. Burn all wood and coals to ash, and make sure the fire is completely out. Collect firewood away from campsites to prevent enlarging and defacing the area.
LEAVE WHAT YOU FIND: Leave archaeological, historical, and rock painting sites undisturbed so the next paddler can have the same sense of wonder you experienced. If you need to take a memory, use a camera to capture the scene. Do not introduce or transport non-native plants, live bait, or animals.
FOOD: Bring sealable plastic bags to pack out empty food containers or other waste. When packing, remember that cans and glass bottles are not allowed. Metal fuel containers, insect repellent, and toiletries are exceptions.
SOAP: Bathe and wash dishes at least 150–200 feet from any body of water. Use biodegradable soaps to avoid polluting the water.
FIREARMS AND FIREWORKS: Discharging a firearm is prohibited within 150 yards of a campsite or occupied area, or in any manner or location that places people or property at risk of injury or damage. State game laws apply in the BWCAW. Fireworks of any kind are illegal.
Primitive Management Areas
For small groups of visitors who desire a more primitive and secluded wilderness experience, there are 12 designated Primitive Management Areas (PMAs) within the BWCAW that are managed like Quetico Provincial Park on the Canadian side of the border. These PMAs cover 124,000 acres of the most remote parts of the wilderness.
Travel through the PMAs requires more effort and skill than is needed in most parts of the BWCAW. The Forest Service does not maintain portage trails and campsites in these areas, and most lakes within the PMA must be reached by traveling cross-country or bushwhacking. To minimize damage to the environment, it is suggested that party size not exceed six people. Visitors may camp at any suitable location. Shallow latrines may be dug at sites that do not have box latrines, and campfires are permitted where there are no fire grates, as long as special care is paid to ensure that there are no environmental scars remaining after use. Camp stoves, however, are strongly recommended instead of open fires.
To enhance the opportunities for solitude, access to these areas is very limited. After obtaining a travel permit for the desired BWCAW entry point, you must also get special authorization from one of the USFS ranger stations where permits are picked up. Each PMA is divided into zones where only one group per night is allowed to camp. (There is no restriction on day-use activities by other groups, however.) A PMA permit only allows users to camp within the PMA zone indicated on the permit. Camping within the BWCAW remains restricted to designated campsites.
Reservations are not taken for the PMA visits. Authorizations are available only on a first-come-first-served basis. Reservations are not available through an outfitter or at a different ranger station.
United States Forest Service maps are available that show PMA zones. Recent visitors to these areas have noted that since portages haven’t been maintained for more than a decade, traveling can be difficult.
For more information about the specific locations of these remote areas, as well as the unique regulations that govern them, contact the Superior National Forest headquarters in Duluth or one of the USFS district offices listed in Chapter 2.
Paddling Along the Canadian Border
In today’s security-conscious environment, you must obtain a Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) permit if your BWCAW trip includes crossing the Canadian border. Contact the Canada Border Services Agency at least 3 to 4 weeks in advance to obtain a Remote Area Border Crossing permit. Call the Citizenship & Immigration Canada at (807) 624-2162 or visit the CIC web site at www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/rabc.html or to get an RABC permit application. Remember that permits are required for overnight and day-use entry. Check with www.ontarioparks.com to confirm your permit requirements.
A Canadian license is required if you are planning to fish in Canada or on the Canadian side of border lakes. Contact the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources at 800-667-1940 for information about non-resident fishing licenses. Licenses can be mailed to you. Visit www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/fishing for details.
If you enter the United States from Canada on your BWCAW trip, report to a Customs Border Protection (CBP) officer for inspection at the Grand Portage port of entry or designated inspection locations in Grand Marais, Crane Lake, and Ely, MN every time you enter the U.S. from Canada by boat. Visit the Customs and Border Protection website at www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/pleasure_boats/cbbl.xml. Bringing along identification documents such as a passport or birth certificate is recommended.
Visiting a Wilderness
“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
Using this definition, Congress passed the Wilderness Act of 1964 and created the National Wilderness Preservation System. Included as the
