June 1949 (age 50)

On June 9, 1949, as Sigurd had expected, the Washington Airspace Subcommittee voted unaminously against the proposed ban on airplanes in the canoe country wilderness of Superior National Forest. "The national policy calls for the fostering and encouragement of civil aviation and air commerce," the group stated. "The proposed Airspace Reservation would be inconsistent with this national policy." The subcommittee was especially concerned that a reservation over the canoe country would set a dangerous precedent.

Aviation group representatives were present at the meeting, but the subcommittee didn't even notify the Agriculture and Interior departments or the President's Quetico-Superior Committee, all of which had a legal right to vote in the subcommittee's proceedings, but none of which were aware of that right. Referring to the makeup of the subcommittee, Sigurd said in dismay, "It seems ridiculous that an issue of such moment as this should hinge on the reactions of a young, inexperienced group of fliers and ex-fliers who have not the slightest beginning of a conception of the meaning of wilderness."

Afterwards, Department of Commerce Secretary Charles Sawyer told Agriculture Secretary Charles Brannan that he would follow the advice of the subcommittee and let President Truman know that he opposed the airspace reservation. (The reservation would be created by executive order of the president.) The end of June found Sigurd flying to Washington to "strengthen Brannan's hand."

June 1964 (age 65)

Sigurd's recent public announcement that he supported a complete ban on logging in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northeastern Minnesota (see the May 1964 edition of "This Month In Olson History") made June a difficult month for him. The controversy nearly severed this thirty-plus-year connection to the Quetico-Superior Council and the President's Quetico-Superior Committee, and once again he faced animosity at home. "As usual the Chamber of Commerce crowd are out to crucify me," he wrote to a friend on June 5th.

What upset him the most, however, was that Izaak Walton League activists questioned his dedication. Early in June, Sigurd told one of the activists in confidence of the pressure he was under from the Quetico-Superior Council and President's Committee, both of which opposed a ban on logging, and he said he was trying to sort out the various strategies. The activist took this as a sign that Olson was wavering. When Sigurd arrived at the Blackhawk Hotel in Davenport, Iowa, for the league's national convention later in June, seven telegrams and two letters were waiting for him, all urging him not to lose his resolve. One of them said, "I always thought canoe men represented a breed of quiet strength and determination." Hurt by the insinuation, Sigurd angrily wrote to the activist who had betrayed his confidence:

For forty-two years I have fought threat after threat, any one of which could have destroyed the wilderness canoe country. We have not always achieved our objectives one hundred percent but have usually won substantially. In the process, I hope I have learned some wisdom and strategy on how best to get things done. Never before in all this time has anyone ever felt my hand and convictions must be bolstered. My record can stand.