Wolf Ridge History: Road Construction, Public Support, and Fund Raising by Jack Pichotta Wolf Ridge Founder Wolf Ridge Almanac Fall 2002

Fund raising had two tracks. When we learned that the Minnesota Legislature had provided capital funds for two other programs that were somewhat similar to ours, we hired a lobbyist to help us approach the Minnesota Legislature. Those initial contacts with Governor Perpich and our legislators provided the beginning of what became a long term relationship which was second only to school support in securing the future of Wolf Ridge. I'm certain that, without the leadership efforts of Governor Rudy Perpich, Senator Doug Johnson and Representative Dave Battaglia, Wolf Ridge simply would not exist in it's present form. The first visit with Governor Perpich at the Capitol was made by John Miller, then state coordinator for Environmental Education, elementary teacher Duncan McKenzie with two of his students, and me. It was a productive visit.

Governor Perpich did not hesitate to encourage and support the vision of Wolf Ridge. He liked the idea as soon as it was presented to him and he provided the essential support and leadership for the legislation, which was sponsored by Senator Johnson and Representative Battaglia. I distinctly recall one of the first meetings I had with Senator Doug Johnson and Representative Dave Battaglia. I had a lot of "enthusiasm" and not nearly enough experience. I suspect that my requests for quick consideration (money) may have been more like demands and, fortunately, both Johnson and Battaglia didn’t ask me to leave. Hopefully they may have even forgotten about that meeting by now. Over time Wolf Ridge received State appropriations, which totaled more than $2 million. And, in 1987, when Wolf Ridge was $1.7 million shy of funds needed to complete our new campus, Senator Johnson and Representative Battaglia helped us by passing legislation which enabled Wolf Ridge to use Lake County's bonding authority and the security of IRRRB to borrow that amount to complete the first of phase of the Wolf Ridge campus. That loan is scheduled to be paid in full in 2008.

One of my favorite memories of Rudy Perpich occurred as a result of a visit by the Governor during the construction of Wolf Ridge. The first indication of his coming was a highway patrol car, driven by Cliff Johnson, coming up the hill with flashing lights. The car behind Cliff contained the Governor and Senator Johnson and a couple of the Governor's aides. The afternoon was very memorable. The Governor stayed at Wolf Ridge long enough to check out construction progress and for me to get all my kids up for pictures with their Governor. We next visited the Four Seasons, in Finland, where the Governor's Polaroid provided great memories for everyone. Rudy Perpich and Hubert Humphrey are two of my heroes. Both men had the opportunity to help Wolf Ridge develop and they did. At times when it would have been a lot easier to decline. Battaglia and Johnson are near the top of my list, too.

If securing public support for Wolf Ridge was the first fund raising track, identifying private support was the second. Our initial effort was to employ a fund raising consultant. John Fischer was that person and, thanks to John, we were introduced to Steve Ober, then President of the Mardag Foundation. Steve Ober, like Governor Perpich, liked the concept and decided to learn as much as possible about our proposed new environmental school. A number of those discussions took place in Mr. Ober's 16-foot boat as we trolled for lake trout on Lake Superior near Little Marais.

The very first large donation is often the most difficult to secure. After a year or so of visiting and checking out the land and the Isabella program, the Mardag Foundation pledged $250,000 toward a new campus. Shortly thereafter a similar amount was pledged by the Bush Foundation, and, while nothing happened as quickly as we would have liked, the combined support of the pledges from the state and two major foundations provided us with the confidence needed to know that eventually we would achieve our goal.

Between 1981 and 1983 three land purchases were completed. Road building and serious fund raising became the new priorities. All of the Wolf Ridge land purchases were enabled with modest down payments and contracts for deed. The down payments came from money saved from program or received as gifts during the first ten years and the future contract payments were secured mostly by high hopes and faith that fund raising would start quickly and be successful. Most of what was often referred to as "Jack's nest egg" was used during the Tettegouche effort, but enough remained to provide the important down payments on land and to start building a road.

In 1982 our family moved from the doublewide trailer located at the job corp. camp at Isabella to 14 acres and a 3-year-old house on the Little Marais Road. Our new home was a bit less than one mile from the land that would one day become the new home for the environmental learning center. So, when road construction began in 1984, I was able to regularly walk, or a year later drive, in and check on progress. Al Jouppi, a neighbor from Isabella, was our road builder.

Two of the most memorable road construction events involved bridging Sawmill Creek and blasting rock at the top of the hill. Installing the culverts was something of a "landmark" that we were making progress and blasting the rock was nothing less than an adventure.

Our blasting guy was Charlie Happy from Duluth who was assisted by two of his nephews. On the scheduled blast day John and BJ Kohlstedt, with Genea, me and our children, Betsey, Sally, Bru and Andy, positioned ourselves about 1500 feet down range, around the corner and well out of sight of the rock face. We heard a loud "wump", saw some dust rising over the hill top and then we all turned and looked down the hill and behind us as what must have been a fairly large chunk of cliff struck the ground. Charley was right; we should have stayed down by the creek.

I had one more road related experience that I still believe was a bit cosmic. One Saturday, probably in the spring of 1985, my mother and I drove over to the road and walked in about a half mile. We encountered a white-tailed doe and two fawns standing just a short way off the road and they seemed reluctant to leave - it was almost as if they were welcoming us to the land. Then, that evening, I walked over by myself and saw a large black bear that also seemed inclined to stay near by - actually, too close for comfort, for more than a few minutes. Then, on Sunday morning I walked down to the creek (the culverts weren't in yet) and, on my way back toward home I saw an adult timber wolf. Again, we watched each other for what seemed like many minutes and I was sure that something really special was happening.

Rain was falling the next morning and I had to be in St. Paul before noon, but, I was certain that this "cosmic event" was for real and that a quick drive down the road, as far as I could go in the mud, would result in my seeing the forth large mammal that lived on the land, a moose. It didn't happen that way, but three out of four was, for me, convincing enough.

Jack Pichotta started what is now called Wolf Ridge as the Environmental Learning Center in 1971. He was Executive Director until his retirement in 2000.