Tom Hammer hosted an irrigation seminar at his farm in Becker and his guest speaker for the event was none other than Will Steger.

 

What does Will Steger have to do with farming and irrigation, one might ask?

 

Not a whole lot except his message was to impress on his listeners the effect of global warming on the planet and what people can do to get involved to preserve the natural environment of Mother Earth.

 

Well over 50 people attended the event last Thursday in which Steger gave a slideshow showcasing photographs from his many explorations and of the Wilderness Center he built in Ely that is soon to be opened for business.

 

Of the dozens of people in attendance, one could spot former Rep. Mark Olson, former Becker Twp. Supervisor Keith Johnson, Firefighter and farmer Jeff Edling and Tom Hammer’s younger brother and former township chairman, Gary.

 

Steger began his presentation with a talk about how he got involved in exploration at an early age. He told of his upbringing in Richfield and how — at the age of 15 — he went down part of the Mississippi River in a motorized boat.

 

“That’s the last time I ever did anything in a motorized craft,” he told his audience.

 

By the age of 18, Steger was climbing the cliffs along the North Shore where he learned new traits about himself he has used throughout the years.

 

“I taught myself to relax but be alert,” he said. “I was falling in love with nature.”

 

He said his heart has always and forever will be with the Minnesota waters. He learned to kayak, which he prefers over a canoe because it is “easier to handle in the rapids.”

 

His goal was to become a wilderness man immediately but he knew he needed to secure an eduction and a job first. He eventually earned his masters in education at St. Thomas and in 1971- at the age of 25, he left for the woods of northern Minnesota and built a small cabin in Ely.

 

“I planted gardens and began teaching courses on home building and gardening during the summer months and dogsledding in the winter,” he said.

 

He bought and trained some sledding dogs and began taking on expeditions on dogsleds. In 1986, he took off to lead a team across the Arctic Circle from Russia to reach the North Pole.

 

This is when his message turned to global warming.

 

“You can’t reach the North Pole anymore via dogsled because of the depleted ice,” he said.

 

Then he turned his attention to his life’s greatest venture — the crossing of Antarctica. The continent had never been crossed before from ocean-to-ocean and he and his team made the 3,700 miles in 221 days in 1989-90.

 

“It was typically around -50º weather down there, not counting the wind chill,” Steger said. “You had to have every area of skin on your body covered at all times.”

 

Steger said because of the thin ozone layer at that point of the earth caused dangers from ultraviolet rays. Plus, they had to keep an eye out for hidden crevices just below the snowlines that could swallow up the team or the sled and dogs.

 

At 73, Steger now makes his living from writing books, taking photographs, lecturing and he even has a clothing line. He turned that property he first bought years ago for his cabin into what is now called the Steger Wilderness Center.

 

“The Will Steger Wilderness Center building grew out of my original dream of living close to nature while uplifting the values of sustainablility, self-sufficiency and innovation,” he said. “The experiences of my Polar explorations revealed the steep challenges facing the planet as well as the remarkable creative ability of people interacting in small groups of six to10.

 

Steger’s mission for the center is to make a lasting, positive impact for the future by bringing small groups of leaders, educators, and policy makers seeking to re-imagine solutions to the world’s most intractable problems. He says it is designed to activate one’s understanding of what it means to be interdependent — with each other, with the earth and as a society. 

 

He added it is to inspire clarity and break-through innovation that sparks the synergy, inspiration and fresh thinking essential to developing innovative and workable approaches to protecting this planet and creating a better world.

 

In 1995, Steger joined Amelia Earhart, Robert Peary and Roald Amundsen in receiving the National Geographic Society’s prestigious John Oliver La Gorce Medal for “Accomplishments in Geographic Exploration, in the Sciences, and Public Service to Advance International Understanding.

 

In 2006, Steger joined Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Dr. Thor Heyerdahl and Neil Armstrong in receiving the Lindbergh Award. 

 

Steger’s presentation at Thursday’s irrigation seminar helped demonstrate how expedition principles are relevant to any situation. From setting a lofty aim with clear intention; to pushing the cutting edge of danger, at the same time having every step calculated and thought through; to being keenly connected to and observing what the wilderness elements are offering as guidance; and finally, utilizing the power of concerted teamwork.

 

“My life’s story is a personal accounting of what it takes to keep a vision and dream alive, working together towards a common aim, and ultimately achieving the impossible,” he said.