Sigurd Olson and the Meaning of Wilderness

In this week's episode, we depart a little bit, and get a little philosophical regarding forests and the wilderness. I want to introduce listeners to Sigurd F. Olson (1899-1982), one of my personal heroes. Sigurd Olson was an educator, canoe guide, outfitter, writer, and a leading voice in the preservation of wilderness. 

Sigurd Olson, the son of Swedish immigrants, his father being a minister,  was born in Chicago and grew up in small towns in northern Wisconsin. After being educated at Northland College (Ashland, Wisconsin), and the University of Wisconsin, Sig and his wife, Elizabeth, found their way to Ely, Minnesota where he was hired as a high school science teacher. To help make ends meet, as his family grew with two sons, Sigurd T., and Robert, Sig began working summers as a canoe guide in the Quetico-Superior border lakes, now the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area. In 1929, Sigurd and two partners purchased a canoe outfitters in nearby Winton, Minnesota. His teaching position would lead him to be on the faculty of Ely Junior College, and later as the college's dean. During this time Sigurd Olson also began writing, first for outdoor magazines and periodicals, his subjects ranging from canoeing, fishing, camping, and other recreational pursuits, to his greatest topic, the importance of wilderness on our well being. 

Wilderness would become his life pursuit. Sig became one of the great voices in the movement to protect wilderness areas. Though he wasn't as well known as Aldo Leopold, Sig's voice was able to reach leaders and the everyday outdoorsman. He found his greatest audiences through the books he wrote beginning with The Singing Wilderness in 1956. Sigurd Olson also served as president of the National Parks Association and The Wilderness Society. In the 1960s he was a part of a special advisory committee to Stewart Udall, the Secretary of the Interior for presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Sigurd Olson's accolades include being the namesake of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College, and the recipient of the John Burroughs Medal in 1974 for being recognized as the year's best nature writer.

Sigurd F. Olson died on January 13, 1982 from a heart attack while snowshoeing at his cabin, Listening Point.

Today, Olson's cabin, Listening Point, is owned by The Listening Point Foundation. Their office is in the Sigurd and Elizabeth Olson residence in Ely. The residence includes Olson's writing shack. The last sentence he typed remains in his typewriter: A New Adventure is coming up/ and I'm sure it will be/ A good one.

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Sigurd Olson's books and books about him:

• The Singing Wilderness (1956)
• Listening Point (1958)
• The Lonely Land (1961)
• Runes of the North (1963)
• Open Horizons (1969)
• The Hidden Forest (1969)
• Wilderness Days (1972)
• Reflections From the North Country (1976)
• Of Time and Place (1982)
• Songs of the North. Howard Frank Mosher, ed. (1987)
• The Collected Works of Sigurd F. Olson: The Early Writings, 1921–1934. Mike Link, ed. (1988)
• The Collected Works of Sigurd F. Olson: The College Years, 1935–1944. Mike Link, ed. (1990)
• The Meaning of Wilderness: Essential Arti

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