New York Times
The Minnesota resort area is sandwiched between the two countries and still feels a blocked blues
Angle Inlet, Minnesota — A small patch in Minnesota, Northwest Angle, which connects to other parts of the United States with water alone, feels like the coronavirus shutdown never ends. But empty cabins, boatless marina, and non-working fishing guides are not the result of the blockade imposed by the Governor of Minnesota. It also does not indicate a serious fear of the virus. (Many residents are already vaccinated and few wear masks.) Instead, during the second Walleye season of the pandemic, Angle’s US companies have geographical habits, foreign governments. , And a gravel road through Manitoba. “It starts to feel very oppressive,” said Lisa Grett, who owns the Angle Outpost with her husband Jason, who had no customers earlier last week. “I don’t know if I want to live this way. I don’t know if it’s really worth it.” Sign up for The Morning newsletter from The New York Times Getting to the Angle. The newsletter has about 100 full-time residents and has no economy other than tourism, but it always requires additional effort. There is only one road and you’ll have to bypass the Canadian countryside 41 miles to drive from mainland Minnesota. Those who want to avoid border crossings will have to charter a seaplane or boat across the olive-colored waves of Lake of the Woods. This is dangerous on small vessels and can cost at least $ 150 round trip on professionally maneuvered vessels. .. The icy road, which provided two months of rest from a border headache, had melted for a long time. For decades, the small family-owned resort in Angle has been offered by world-class fishing, pine-scented forests, and several other locations in the 48 states of the continental United States. But that loneliness is more obvious than ever and is no longer such an asset. Canada’s continued COVID ban on American leisure travelers seems to cripple Angle business, overturn family traditions, and reverberate long after the pandemic, even for travelers whose ultimate destination is the United States. In a way that has eroded decades of cross-border goodwill. Resort owners and fishing guides sought part-time jobs, canceled another summer of bookings, and in some cases they Rethink their relationship with foreign countries that can be seen in their docks. “I didn’t expect Canada to be in this position,” said Paul Corson, whose family has owned Jake’s Northwest Angle since 1945. “As you know, it can’t be defended. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t follow science.” The Northwest Angle, which owes its presence to the treaty negotiated when the map of the region was inaccurate, was previously a diplomatic entanglement. Was the target of. Canada and Great Britain tried to buy the region from the United States in the 1800s but were unsuccessful. And just a generation ago, a trade dispute known as the “Walleye War” broke out over whether US resort guests could continue to catch fish in Canadian waters, triggering talk of withdrawal. But where both US and Canadian flags are found on the roadside and many people have friends and relatives on either side of the line, this latest controversy feels different. More personal. It hurts more. The long transparent border suddenly hardened. A small number of visitors who are still arriving are no longer allowed to fish in the waters of Canada, a region preferred by many fishermen. And the idea of a compromise-perhaps an international travel corridor, or a pilot car to escort tourists to Angle without contact with Canadians-has not yet gained momentum. US State Department officials refused to talk specifically about Angle and did not say whether they asked Canada for concessions. Every day, business owners spend more money. In areas where the summer weather is instantaneous and snow flurry occurs even in late May, there is little time to save this tourist season. “This is absolutely urgent. Republican Rep. Michelle Fischbach, who represented Angle in Parliament and sent a letter to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this month, said: Relaxed restrictions. Canada Recently, the rules have been relaxed to allow full-time Angle residents to travel to mainland Minnesota to buy groceries and other necessities, but the COVID-19 test did not test negative. Tourists and part-time Angle residents (including those who own but stay in the cabin) Canada’s senior diplomat, who discussed sensitive and fast-moving issues on condition of anonymity, said Canadian officials said He said he was sympathetic to the plight of the Angle business and expressed optimism. The restrictions may be relaxed for travelers vaccinated in the second half of the summer. Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Justin Trudeau. Hillman said in a statement that he had discussed Northwest Angle with Democratic Senator Michelle Fischbach, but Hillman did not provide a timeline for when the border would fully reopen. “At Angle, you Given the small number of people dealing with it, I think some people are reluctant to consider making exceptions, “Krobshire said of the Canadians. “And I really think they have to look at this on their own.” Now is the time for Angle to come back to normal. According to locals, in a typical year, boat traffic jams occur at the marina in Youngs Bay, and visitors are given a brightly painted sign showing Angle’s status as the northernmost tip of the 48 neighboring states. Take a picture next to it. But lately, instead of waiting for a table at Angle’s only restaurant, Jerry’s Bar and Restaurant, cross-border visitors are lined up to take advantage of telephone booths that have to report their whereabouts to customs. There is no one. Some resorts have no customers since the ice fishing season. Throughout Angle, where black bears and deer graze along dusty roads, residents talk about the disruptions of life, including funeral failures, unemployment, and travel plan cancellations on the mainland. The feeling of helplessness is also increasing, and I feel that both countries are doing a lot of things because they are concerned about their predicament. “We have been forgotten. Retired Doug Freitag, who was taking care of a neighbor’s hut that he couldn’t visit and whose wife lost her income as a housekeeper at a local resort, said.” The United States has not done enough to give us the right to free passage as citizens. Canadians make us as if we were a very unique group of people. They are dealing and they don’t know how to deal with it at all. ”When the United States and Canada decided last year to close their borders and close traffic that they thought was unnecessary, many Angle residents said they were sympathetic. He said it was targeted and even supportive. But as the closure lasted weeks or months, patience diminished. “They’re just prolonging the problem, thinking about quitting COVID,” said Andy Lundbohm, Angle’s fishing guide for over 20 years, who took on more taxidermy jobs to make up for lost income. I did. Klobuchar, Fishbach, and other American politicians are also calling for a wider reopening of the border. However, many Canadians remain deeply skeptical of allowing more travel abroad, and officials there face domestic pressure to maintain restrictions. Part of the tension lies in the very different approaches of the two countries to the pandemic. In the United States, businesses have reopened. Domestic tourism has resumed. Vaccines are abundant. And because of the sharp drop in case numbers, it is advised that fully vaccinated Americans do not need a mask in most settings. Fishing resorts are booming in other parts of Minnesota, including the rest of Lake of the Woods, which has more square miles of water across both countries than Rhode Island has land. However, in Canada, where the total number of cases per capita is much lower than in the United States, the outlook for the virus these days is less encouraging and business restrictions continue in most parts of the country. Manitoba is identifying new cases at a faster pace than any other state or state, and vaccination campaigns in Canada are proceeding much slower. About half of both Americans and Canadians receive the first dose of the vaccine, but only about 5% of Canadians are fully vaccinated, compared to about 40% of Americans. In a statement, Canada’s Minister of Public Security and Emergency Preparedness spokesman James Cadmore said the increase in vaccination ultimately allowed deregulation, but “when and how to reopen the border.” The decision on whether to do so will be made in Canada. ” The best interests of Canadians are our top priority. It was already another stormy summer at Angle Outpost Resort, where geese swarmed near rippling water last afternoon when Grett mowed. Bookings have declined, cancellations are still ongoing, and uncertainty about when the border will reopen made it difficult for customers to reschedule. Grett was planning another trip to North Dakota. So he is working on construction to make up for some of his lost income from the resort. And when many Americans returned to their relatively normal daily lives, the family was exhausted trying to convince the Canadian border guard that each trip to the mainland met the country’s essential definition. Was there. “We are in the enclosure,” Goulet said. “Or a prison cell.” This article was originally published in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company