For the first time in several years, there will be a park ranger at the Cache Bay Ranger Station in Quetico Provincial Park for the full season in 2023.

Due to the pandemic and additional restrictions regarding Remote Area Border Crossing Permits, there has not been a full-time ranger at the island in Cache Bay since 2019. There was a ranger there for part of the paddling season in 2022.

That means the last ranger to serve full-time at Cache Bay was Janice Matichuk, the longest serving ranger in the history of Quetico. Matichuk died from brain cancer in August 2020. Her voice has been featured many times on the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast. The story of her time in Quetico was shared by Boundary Waters Podcast host Joe Friedrichs in the book "Her Island."

In this episode, the podcast team shares some of the 'Lost Files of Matichuk.' In the early stages of shaping "Her Island," Friedrichs and Matichuk recorded some 14 hours of audio. The clips shared today are the first in what will be a series of stories Matichuk shared about her time in Quetico. Topics range from the ethics of fishing to stories of being charged by a moose.

Also featured in this episode is a preview to Canoecopia 2023! The world's largest paddling expo is from March 10-12 in Madison, Wisc. The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team will be back in Madison for this year's expo! Sharing information about the upcoming event is Chloe Machula, one of the event organizers for Canoecopia.