Patty Loew:
Old world ways are being preserved in northern Wisconsin. Pristine and untamed. That's how the state's newest wild river is described. Sit back and let us take you down the Totagatic River in Washburn County.  

Jo Garrett:
Take a long look at this fall day on the Totagatic River. It's a golden panorama of change.  And in the future, the only change you'll see on this river is this change, the turning of the natural world. The Totagatic will stay wild, undeveloped, protected, forever. As of 2009, four sections of the 70-mile long river, including this section, are now part of the state's wild river system. This makes the Totagatic one of five state wild rivers. To give you a sense of what's being saved, we joined up for a paddle with a group of boaters who have been part of the decade-long effort to preserve this place.  

Jo Garrett:
The group included John Haack, St. Croix basin educator for the University of Wisconsin Extension. The woman in the middle of the canoe is Kathy Bartelson, Wisconsin DNR, St. Croix River watershed supervisor. And energetic Fred Blake is a citizen volunteer for the Washburn County Lakes and Rivers Association.

Fred Blake:
I'm keeping on doing this as long as I can.  

Jo Garrett:
I started my interview sessions about the river with a hardball. How do you pronounce the name? John Haack.

John Haack:
Well, the name is different depending on where you're from and how you pronounce it. Many locals pronounce it TOE-gatech. A lot of us pronounce it ta-TOE-ga-tech. And some people even pronounce it ta-toe-ga-TAT-ech.

Jo Garrett:
Fred Blake.

Fred Blake:
I always use ta-TOH-gatek. As a matter of fact, in my notes it's just “Toto.”

Jo Garrett:
Kathy Bartelson.

Kathy Bartelson:
If you look at the Washburn County plat books, it's spelled both ways on the same page, Totogatic, and Totagatic.

Jo Garrett:
We're not even going to get near the debate about how to spell the name. But we do wonder what it means.

Kathy Bartelson:
Supposedly it's an Ojibwa word. I've heard that it means soft, boggy places.

Jo Garrett:
Yes, this river is that in many places.

Kathy Bartelson:
And beautiful and flowing is another description I've heard of the translation.

Jo Garrett:
Let's go with the beautiful and flowing.  

Kathy Bartelson:
Going through the canyon-like areas and then out into these wide floodplain forests, where you feel like you're just in wonderland.

Fred Blake:
It's as close as you can come to being totally pristine as anything I’ve seen. This is hardly touched. And to me that is a remarkable gift.

Kathy Bartelson:
Beautiful part about this river is the banks are still intact with native vegetation. You don't see a lot of disturbance. There are homes and a few docks. They're modest and they're few. You can go for a long stretch on the river and feel like, wow.

Jo Garrett:
State wild river status means houses and other structures must be set back at least 300 feet. Piers that exist now can be rebuilt if needed, but no new development is allowed. So the view will stay like this. It's not always an easy ride. A travel on the Totagatic can sometimes include some leg work. That squeaking sound you hear is our rubber boat scraping the shallow river bottom. In low water you're walking your boat. And since it's wild, no one's coming out to remove the river's obstacles.

John Haack:
There's going to be tree falls, that’s part of being on the wild river, you’re just gonna have to get around that stuff like they’ve been doing for centuries on these rivers.

Fred Blake:
You get out and walk around them or you crawl under them. You do anything you have to do.

Jo Garrett:
You're on your own here. This place is short on amenities. Big on wild.  

John Haack:
It's going to be unlike a national park. The idea behind the wild river is to keep it wild where we don't have designated campgrounds. It's pretty much going to remain as we see it today.

Jo Garrett:
It will stay like this. It will stay wild, a golden jewel for Wisconsin.

Patty Loew:
Last week, "In Wisconsin" ventured down the state's other newly designated wild river, the Brunsweiler in Ashland County. Conservationist Martin Hanson helped preserve it from future developments.

Man:
He felt that it was his life mission to preserve it.

Patty Loew:
If you'd like to check it out, just go to our website at wpt.org/inwisconsin and then click on In Wisconsin. You'll get to see Jo Garrett's full report on the Brunsweiler.