If you’ve been to the Boundary Waters but hadn’t heard of Tim Walz before, that likely changed today.

Walz, the current Minnesota governor, was selected by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to be her running mate in a bid for the White House. The 60-year-old Walz will officially be announced later today, including an event with Harris tonight in Philadelphia.

Walz has a strong connection to the Boundary Waters. He’s paddled in the BWCA and surrounding area many times, he told me while I was researching and writing “Last Entry Point.” He took youth from southern Minnesota there when he was an educator, and his family has visited the Gunflint Trail and Ely areas numerous times during the past several decades.

Walz has his own connection to “Last Entry Point” and the topic of death in the Boundary Waters. Walz’s brother, Craig, died on Duncan Lake in 2016 when a tree fell on his campsite during a severe storm. Craig’s son, Jacob, was injured in the incident, though he survived.

I was able to sign a copy of the book and bring it to Twin Cities Public Television for the governor earlier this year when we both appeared on the show Almanac, hosted by Cathy Wurzer and Eric Eskola. I wrote a note to Walz inside the cover of the book. It mentioned Craig. The governor said he’d read in the newspapers that the book was coming out. I spoke with Walz about the incident on Duncan Lake where his brother lost his life. It’s the only interview he’s ever done on the topic. A portion of our conversation is in the book.

About a month after the Almanac appearance, Walz was back in headlines associated with the Boundary Waters when he authorized the Minnesota National Guard to assist in the recovery mission at Curtain Falls. Two paddlers who went over the falls in May were missing for more than two weeks before they were found.

In terms of controversial mining projects proposed near the BWCA, Walz has been largely middle of the road, though he leans more in the direction of being supportive of the process that could open pathways for Twin Metals and other mining companies to operate near the most visited wilderness area in the nation. Walz hasn’t addressed the issue at length in some time, though he spoke on this topic with journalist (and a friend of Paddle and Portage) Walker Orenstein back in 2019. Orenstein is now a reporter for the Star Tribune, though this report was with his former employer, MinnPost. It’s worth a read.

A Harris-Walz candidacy means different things to different people who frequent the BWCA and Superior National Forest. There will be plenty of politicking in the months to come ahead of the Nov. 5 general election. And with Walz on the ticket, it’s likely the Boundary Waters will receive more of a spotlight during an election season than it has in recent years, perhaps ever. Paddle and Portage will follow any news related to the Boundary Waters during the 2024 presidential election very closely. And indeed, it’s just getting started.

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