A look back at 50 years of the Wilderness Act

Wednesday is the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act, which created additional protections for about 9 million acres of federal lands, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

There are now more than 100 million acres of wilderness in the country. It was a revolutionary law, reversing the long history of America's conquering of wilderness to one of preserving it.

On The Daily Circuit, we hear three different conversations about the Wilderness Act:

1. The history of how the law was passed - and the role Minnesotans played in that.

2. Isle Royale, and the ongoing debate about wolves on the island.

3. The story of Dorothy Molter, the Root Beer Lady, who was the last non-indigenous resident of the BWCAW.