Bozeman, Montana – On the heels of the successful launch of its Save Our Streams (SOS) initiative to help America’s most iconic waterways, Simms Fishing Products turns its attention to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota.
The Boundary Waters is a 1.1 million acre region of forest dotted with over 1,000 lakes and cut by hundreds of miles of rivers and streams. The Wilderness Area attracts over 250,000 paddlers and anglers annually. This impact supports local communities with strong, sustainable tourism-based economies. Foreign mining interests are hoping to mine low-grade sulfide copper ore from federally leased lands upstream, and only miles away from the edge of this invaluable wilderness.
“We are fortunate to have areas in our country such as the Boundary Waters that are still pristine and wild,” says Simms Executive VP of Marketing, Al Perkinson. “Having these wild places to enjoy with family and friends is a privilege and, therefore, it’s our responsibility to respect and protect these lands and waters so future generations can enjoy them just as we have.”
For this second leg of SOS, Simms has joined forces with Sportsmen For The Boundary Waters, a group of diehard outdoor enthusiasts dedicated to protecting the ecosystem and habitat of the area where they hunt, fish and camp. Their mission is to protect clean water, clean air and the dense forest landscape of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Once again, Simms is launching a limited edition T-shirt to help the cause—this time utilizing the artwork of Minnesota native Jake Keeler. The SOS Boundary Waters T-shirt will be available through Simms’ retail partners as well as simmsfishing.com. A portion of each sale will go to The Boundary Waters Trust, the lead organization for Sportsmen For The Boundary Waters to further their conservation efforts.
“Being from the Midwest, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was the ‘big adventure’ for our family as I’m sure it was for many others. The opportunity to travel over water and portages to lakes deep in the north woods, seeing nary another soul, fishing for walleye, smallmouth bass, pike, and panfish, enjoying meals cooked over the campfire, and going to sleep in the tent to the howls of wolves and the calls of loons are memories that will remain with me for the rest of my life,” says Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters Outreach Director, Scott Hed. “With the support of Simms’ Save Our Streams initiative, we’ll work to ensure these experiences will be available for generations to come.”