Protecting the Boundary Waters

The motion of the canoe in the dark, almost-still water made only the slightest splash. The only sounds were the wind, the water, and an occasional birdcall. Zach Spindler-Krage ’25 took a deep breath and let the peaceful setting wash over him, quieting his mind after the end of a busy school year at Grinnell.

Spindler-Krage has traveled to the Boundary Waters more than a dozen times. “It is truly my favorite place,” the Minnesota native says. “The Boundary Waters has become a sanctuary for me.” The pristine natural area along the U.S.-Canada border in northern Minnesota and Ontario comprises more than a million acres of dense forests, lakes, and interconnected streams.

But the region is facing a serious environmental threat from copper sulfide mining interests, Spindler-Krage says. He just completed a sociology course at Grinnell titled Beyond Hashtags: Social Movements in Digital Society, taught by Lara Janson, visiting assistant professor of sociology. As his final project, Spindler-Krage wrote an op-ed piece (“For the Boundary Waters protection movement, the time is now”) about efforts to protect the Boundary Waters. To his surprise, it was accepted for publication by MinnPost, an independent, nonprofit news source covering issues of interest to Minnesotans.

Janson says one of the sociology department’s key goals is to encourage students to engage with social issues and make a difference. She was thrilled to hear about Spindler-Krage’s publication. “It’s a lovely story of doing community-engaged work as well as thinking imaginatively about how to promote policy change,” she says.

Spindler-Krage isn’t new to the movement to protect the Boundary Waters. In summer 2022, he interned at Save the Boundary Waters Campaign in Ely, Minnesota. He also lobbied members of Congress in Washington, D.C., work that he hopes to continue in summer 2023.

A lot of the feedback on his op-ed has been positive, but Spindler-Krage’s column also provoked more than a few angry pro-mining responses. “Hopefully, it is a positive sign that the article is generating attention,” he says.

Spindler-Krage says he appreciates the guidance of Janson as well as Leigh Kunkel, who taught a course at Grinnell titled Freelance Journalism, which he audited in fall 2022. “It was a phenomenal introduction to writing and pitching stories to news outlets,” he says.

“I am deeply grateful for both Janson and Professor Kunkel for all of their help in this process,” Spindler-Krage says.