From THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY 
1840 Mintwood Place, N. W.                                  For Immediate
Release 
Washington 9, D. C.                                                     
       6 
 
 
 
 
 
                       NATION-WIDE COOPERATION URGED TO 
                          PRESERVE MINNESOTA CANOE COUNTRY 
 
 
     Nation-wide cooperation to rescue the canoe land of the Superior Roadless

Area in Minnesota from commercial exploitation is urged by The Wilderness

Society--national conservation organization with headquarters at 1840 Mintwood

Place, Washington, D. C. 
 
    To this end the Society has endorsed a 3-point proposal by Chester Wilson,

Conservation Commissioner of Minnesota, and is urging that conservationists
- 
throughout the country call the program to the attention of their representatives

in the next Congress. 
 
     This program, it is explained, calls for three Federal bills. One would

provide for acquisition by the Federal Forest Service of private lands within

the Superior Roadless Area. Another would authorize an exchange of Government

owned lands outside the area for private lands within. The third would make

it possible for the local counties to receive payments in lieu of taxes on
the 
Government-owned lands within their boundaries. 
 
     The crux of this problem, says The Wilderness Society, is the invasion
of 
the wild canoe country by the airplane. Lands within this roadless area were

once accessible only by water or trails, but the airplane has brought easy

transportation and has led to the development of resort projects that are
un- 
desirable in this region. 
 
     Purchase of the private lands where such resorts can be established
is 
expected to help solve this problem. 
 
     "Our areas for recreation away from the influences of our mechanized

civilization are few and precious," says the Society, "and we should
work 
earnestly to preserve them." 
 
     The Superior Roadless Area, so designated by the Federal Forest Service,

includes more than 925,000 acres in the Superior National Forest described
as 
an area of endless lakes, admirably adapted to canoe travel. Some 135,000

acres--or about 15 percent--of this area is still in private ownership. 
 
 
--10462--