During this challenging time of change for our nation and for our national parks, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore wants to shine a bright light – a lighthouse beacon if you will – on this very special place and on the people dedicated to protecting the national lakeshore for future generations. That’s the goal of our series entitled “Love our Lakeshore.”  (You can tell us why you Love Our Lakeshore by filling out our simple form at this link.)

In this report Friends board member Neil Howk sits down with Bayfield business community member Julie Buckles of Honest Dog Books, to explore the importance of relationship between the lakeshore and the local community, as an economic engine and as a special place worthy of our attention and protection. 

My name is Julie Buckles, the owner of Honest Dog Books which I purchased in the fall of 2019, on a whim. Best whim decision I ever made. And have owned it ever since. We continue to grow. We now have a theater area, we have a third area that has rare books in it. So, we are a used, new, and rare books store.

Neil: Why did you buy the store?

Julie: I bought it because I love this region, I love literature, and my whole life has been in words. I was a reporter first, I was a professor of journalism second, and then I wrote my own book (Paddling to Winter), and I spent a lot of time in book stores my whole life, and was director of communications at Northland College.

This place has been here for 30 years before I bought it, so now it’s 35 years, and I just couldn’t imagine it going away. I just felt like I, maybe it’s all ego, but I was the person to take it into its next 30 years. To me, every day is a gift. I get to come in here, I can look out at Lake Superior, and I can walk inside and be surrounded by all my best friends, which are books.

Neil: Sweet. What does having a thriving Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and all its visitors mean to you and your business?

Julie: Well, it’s absolutely critical. It is the reason that people come to this region. It is the reason Bayfield is so special, that Madeline Island is so special, is that access to the water. I would say it’s also the reason that many of us live here. I participated in many gatherings where there’s discussions about “how did you end up here?” Almost always there’s at least a half dozen stories about “it was the lake that kept drawing me back.”

You know, from John F. Kennedy to the present, everyone has recognized that the Apostle Islands (area) has a certain specialness to it. It’s great for sailors and kayakers. And what I love about this region is that it’s a place for outdoor recreation. We don’t have water slides here. We have the Apostle Islands. It’s those types of people who come here who appreciate books as well as they appreciate the lake.

Neil: How important is the summer season to your business?

Julie: Well, talk to anyone around here and it’s the Only season. As much as we try to build a winter season, we have four months every year to make money to successfully make it through the other eight months. And that is June through September ending with Apple Fest. So, summer is just everything. It’s the reason we can have two bookstores in one town is because of that increased traffic in the summer. I can make it through the winter usually breaking even or a little bit better, but it’s the summer that allows me to stay open year-round. I wonder if we were to lose that summer traffic, if I would be able to do that. But it has been important to me from the beginning I am a year-round business, but the winter months are through grit.

Neil: What do you love most about the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore?

Julie: Oh my gosh. How do you even answer that question? I have nostalgia for … before we even lived here, I think my husband and I went out kayaking in the Apostle Islands. We have run our sled dogs in the Apostle Islands. We were at the very first Apostle Islands sled dog race, which at that time started out on Madeline Island. We have sailed in the Apostles. We started our big canoe trip here and paddled 1700 miles north. So, the water is essential… Lake Superior as the cleanest of the Great Lakes is a point of pride. It’s the reason everyone wants to be here, the reason we want to be here.

Neil: Well, with all the changes happening in the federal government, what is your hope for the future of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, as well as the park service staff who operate the park?

Julie: My hope is that we return to a sense of normalcy and stability. That the park staff will be supported and that the Apostle Islands continue to remain a wild place for everyone. Of course, my biggest fear in all these layoffs around the country Is that there is a move to privatize. Thinking about all the people all the way back…Sigurd Olson who fought really hard to preserve these places…and as I travel around the country and I see the spaces that have been kept for the public in the public domain, I’m just so appreciative of those people, and I don’t want to slide back. My hope is that this remains a wild and accessible space for all!

Neil: Great, that’s it.