Boundary Waters-no other place like it on Earth
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Boundary Waters-no other place like it on Earth
"Tales of the Midwestern Northwoods" -Enrique Vazquez, 2023 Book Collecting Award
The Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS) is an international association of book collecting clubs.1 They award prizes for the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest.2
Enrique Vazquez, one of the 2023 winners, collects books about the Boundary Waters.
Boundary Waters: largest contiguous areas of uncut forest
The Boundary Waters is the most visited Wilderness in the United States. The interconnected waterways and unspoiled forests of this Wilderness offer recreation, critical habitat, and support the people and economies of wilderness-edge.3 Established in 1964 as Federally Designated Wilderness, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) is over one million acres of rugged and remote boreal forest in the northern third of the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota.4
President Jimmy Carter signed the BWCA Wilderness Act of 1978 (Pub.L. 95-495) October 21, 1978 and created the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or BWCA).
The BWCAW contains the largest contiguous areas of uncut forest remaining in the eastern United States.
The BWCAW extends nearly 150 miles along the international border adjacent to Canada's Quetico Provincial Park and is bordered on the west by Voyageurs National Park. The BWCAW contains 1175 lakes varying in size from 10 to 10,000 acres, more than 1200 miles of canoe routes, 12 hiking trails and over 2000 designated campsites.5
Enrique Vazquez-2023- National Collegiate Book Collecting Prize for his collection of North Woods Naturalists
At a book talk about his award-winning collection,6 Tales of the Midwestern Northwoods, Enrique Vazquez writes of his inspiration from the book, the Listening Point, by Sigurd F. Olson.7
my book collection’s origin is in Olson’s work, it also includes the books of numerous wilderness writers from the region. This selection of 35 books, titled “Tales of the Midwestern Northwoods,” focuses on the Minnesota Boundary Waters, the Mississippi River, and the white pine forests of Wisconsin. Its narrators are many and diverse, including conservationists, outdoorsmen (both real and imagined), indigenous peoples, trailblazing women, artists, loggers, and families like mine. Such an assemblage is in keeping with Olson’s philosophy that the wilderness should be shared and made accessible to all.
Some books from Enrique Vazquez’ collection:
Here is a brief video narration from Sigurd Olson’s book, The Listening Point.
Listening Point - Listening Point Foundation8
The Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS) is an international association of book collecting clubs. It is a non-profit 501C (6) organization committed to communicating, sharing, and supporting bibliophilic activities, experience, and ideas among member clubs and affiliates for mutual benefit and pleasure. Members of the general public are welcome to peruse our calendar of online events; most are open to the public and free. We also offer a monthly digest of online events in our email newsletter.
Established in 2005 by Fine Books & Collections Magazine to recognize outstanding book collecting efforts by college and university students, the program aims to encourage young collectors to become accomplished bibliophiles. The magazine conducted the annual competition program for three years before turning over leadership to the new collaboration of institutional partners: the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS), the Grolier Club, and the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division (the Library of Congress). Here is the link to the 2023 winners: 2023 NCBCC Winners | The New Antiquarian | The Blog of The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (abaa.org). The awards celebration was be held at the Library of Congress’s Whittall Pavilion on September 22nd, 2023.
Sigurd F. Olson - was an American writer, environmentalist, and advocate for the protection of wilderness. For more than thirty years, he served as a wilderness guide in the lakes and forests of the Quetico-Superior country of northern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario. He was known honorifically as the Bourgeois — a term the voyageurs of old used of their trusted leaders.
Listening Point Foundation. Listening Point Foundation is dedicated to preserving Listening Point and advancing Sigurd F. Olson's wilderness philosophy.
Boundary Waters-no other place like it on Earth
1975 was a tumultuous year for my family. My father was on another 1-year tour of duty in Viet Nam and we were living in Bangkok. As South Viet Nam began to fall, we lost touch with my father in the horrible chaos of war. All we knew was that he was in north and every now and again, would hear from friends that he was working his way south. In April of that year, my recently widowed grandmother had a terrible accident and my mother decided that we had to return to Minnesota to take care of her. So, we left Bangkok not knowing where our father was and if we would ever see him again.
A couple of months later, we heard he was safe and out of the country and would be joining us soon. I was 15 years old and thought that a canoe trip would be a good way to reconnect with him. My family liked to camp and it was a favorite part of growing up with my parents. So, I planned my first expedition and made arrangements with an outfitter in Ely to spend a week canoeing in the Boundary Waters. My mother (& 9-year-old sister) decided to stay with my grandmother, so it was just us boys, my 13-year-old brother, my dad, and myself.
On the drive to Ely, we adopted a feral kitten born behind a gas station, soon to be named "Ely". As it turned out, Ely was a fearless kitten that adapted perfectly to the canoe and water. Ely would ride atop one of the packs and swim just for fun. We had a wonderful trip. At that time, there were no permits required and we could camp and go wherever we wanted. We went the entire week without seeing any other party. We ate Smallmouth Bass or Walleye every night and sometimes in the morning, too. It was truly wonderful and the experience is still one of my favorite memories. Further, I felt like I could do this forever. I found that I can live the bush life, which led me to Alaska, where I've lived for over 40 years. I still love the bush life.
After that first BWCA trip, we continued with a number of subsequent canoe trips to the BWCA and elsewhere. We're on our third generation of voyageurs now.
One of the most memorable experiences of my life was a 50 mile canoe trip in the Boundary Waters with my two sons and their Boy Scout troop.