1909

Minnesota established 1,200,000 acre "Superior Refuge." President Roosevelt designates area as the Superior National Forest.

1913

Quetico Provincial Park established.

1919

The Forest Service prepares the first recreation plan developed in response to the influx of people seeking recreation in the BWCA.

1926

Agriculture Secretary Jardine issues proclamation establishing 640,000 acre wilderness area: promising “no roads and no recreation development”.

1930

Congress passes Shipstead-Newton-Nolan Act which withdrew all federal land from homesteading and prevented the alteration of natural water levels by dams.

1930 - 1941

Portage trails are built by the Civilian Conservation Corp, under Roosevelt’s recovery program during the depression.

1943

Izaak Walton League establishes fund to purchase private lands and resorts.

1948 - 1968

Congress passes Thye-Blatnick Act, directing the Secretary of Agriculture to acquire resorts, cabins and private lands within the BWCA. The Act was extended and funded two more times: in 1956 and in 1961.

1949

Minnesota passes a bill making fly-ins illegal. President Truman issues an executive order forbidding flights below 4,000 feet over the BWCA.

1964

Congress passes the Wilderness Act. BWCA is officially included in the National Wilderness System. The Act prohibited the use of motorboats and snowmobiles within wilderness areas, with exceptions for areas where use was well established within the BWCA.

1965

Thirteen directives on BWCA use are issued by Secretary of Agriculture. Directives provided motor boat zoning, limited snowmobiling and setting up visitor registration.

1969

Congress passes National Environmental Policy Act to encourage productive harmony between man and his environment.

1972

President Nixon issues Executive Order prohibiting use of snowmobiles and recreational vehicles in all national wilderness areas.

1975 - 1976

217,000 acre Voyageurs National Park established. Secretary of Agriculture imposes off-road vehicle ban in the BWCA.

October 21, 1978

President Carter signs Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act into law. The 1978 Act was intended to resolve many issues of contention once and for all and to bring quiet to nearly 75 years of land-use and recreation controversy.

1992

Minnesota passes law governing maintenance of campsites on state land in the BWCAW.

1993

The U.S.Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that required Four Mile Portage, Prairie Portage and the portage between Lake Vermillion and Trout Lake be closed to motor vehicles. BWCAW Management Plan approved by Superior National Forest; appealed and upheld by 8th United States District Court.

Summer, 1994

Almost one-third of Quetico Provincial Park is opened to motorboats of up to 10 hp when used by members of the Lac la Croix band. Selected floatplane use is also allowed for the band.

Spring, 1996

Six bills are introduced to the U.S.Congress to either open these natural preserves to increased motor use or to continue to protect them as natural refuges. The bills die after President Clinton threatens a veto of the Grams and Oberstar measures.

1996-1998

Four bills are introduced in the U.S.Congress, three add motorized use (trucks and motorboats) and one reduces motorized use. Federal mediation process over motor portages as sought by U.S.Senator Paul Wellstone; no consensus. Congress allows two motorized portages to continue through a rider on transportation bill.

July 4, 1999 Storm

Blowdown affects 300,000 acres within the BWCAW, with 32 percent extensively damaged.