UNITED STATES. PRESIDENT'S QUETICO-SUPERIOR COMMITTEE:

The committee has its origins in the 1909 establishment of the Quetico Provincial Park by the Dominion of Canada, accomplished in order to protect the Canadian side of the unique Rainy Lake region from poaching and other environmental depredations. Shortly after that, the U.S. reciprocated when President Theodore Roosevelt established the adjacent Superior National Forest. The joint preserves gave the entire watershed its present name, the Quetico-Superior country.

Proposals for roads into the wilderness area in the 1920s resulted in successful opposition by conservation groups to maintain it as a roadless area. A further challenge came in 1925 with a proposal to create a giant power reservoir along the border, which would incorporate high dams and resulting flooding of the wilderness lakes. Early enthusiasts of the Quetico-Superior area like Ernest Oberholtzer, Fred Winston, Charles Kelly, and Frank Hubachek--all of them influential conservationists--galvanized U.S. support and succeeded in organizing a private support organization known as the Quetico-Superior Council, which proposed and lobbied for a long range management plan for the area. Canadian and American legations both endorsed its proposals in 1929 and, in 1931, congress passed the Shipstead-Nolan Act, which gave protection against logging or flooding to the federally owned shorelines on the Minnesota side of the border.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1934, appointed the first President's Quetico-Superior Committee to work toward realizing the Council's program, and the eventual dedication of a Peace Memorial Forest in the area. In the same year the International Joint Commission investigating the longstanding power development applications affecting the area, denied them on both sides of the border. Over the years the U.S. government continued to add acreage to the forest areas and the committee, along with the council, continued to oppose intrusions into the wilderness, including military and commercial flyovers, and snowmobile trails.

This historical information was taken from: Wilson Ornithological Club Conservation Committee, "Voyageur's Country: The Story of the Quetico-Superior Country," The Wilson Bulletin 65 (1953): 56-59.

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The records also include materials produced by other closely affiliated organizations, especially minutes and related papers (1934-74) of the Joint Quetico-Superior Advisory Committee and correspondence and miscellany (1949-74) relating to the Quetico-Superior Foundation and the Quetico Foundation. The Quetico-Superior International Peace Memorial Forest is represented by its newsletters (1947-57) and news releases.

The papers reflect the committee's work in preserving the Quetico-Superior area from encroachments by logging and mining companies, in preserving the roadless areas, in banning airplane flights over the area, in establishing reciprocal agreements with Canadian government officials and groups, and in aiding other conservation groups, particularly the Sierra Club and the Izaak Walton League of America.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. United States. President's Quetico-Superior Committee Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 13,920; 14,286; 14,698; 14,904; 14,964; 15,218; 15,941; 16,199; 16,351

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 990017295010104294

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Quetico-Superior Council Records, and Ernest Oberholtzer Papers, are also in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Boundaries -- Canada.

Boundaries -- Minnesota.

Conservation of natural resources -- Canada.

Conservation of natural resources -- Minnesota.

Conservation of natural resources -- International cooperation.

Forest policy -- Minnesota.

Mineral industries -- Environmental aspects -- Minnesota.

Treaties.

International cooperation.

Forest conservation -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Backus, Edward Wellington, 1860-1934.

Chase, Josiah Hook.

Clement, Paul, 1892-1984.

Hubachek, Frank Brookes, 1894-.

Kelly, Charles A., 1932-.

Kelly, Charles Scott, 1899-1987.

Magie, Bill, 1902-.

Oberholtzer, Ernest C. (Ernest Carl), 1884-1977.

Olson, Sigurd F., 1899-.

Wilson, Chester S. (Chester Sawyer), 1886-1983.

Organizations:

Arrowhead Regional Development Commission.

Izaak Walton League of America.

Joint Quetico-Superior Advisory Committee.

Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company.

Minnesota Power and Light Company.

Ontario. Fisheries Branch.

Quetico Foundation.

Quetico-Superior Council.

Quetico-Superior Foundation.

Places:

Quetico-Superior International Peace Memorial Forest.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area (Minn.).

Voyageurs National Park (Minn.).

Rainy Lake (Minn. and Ont.).

Document Types:

Maps.

Certificates.

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