Mercury pollution

A college roommate of mine requested a cartoon for use at his current job as Kawishiwi Watershed Protection Plan Project Coordinator addressing skepticism in the vicinity of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area that mercury pollution should be a concern. (There are apparently people who discount any opposition to pollution as mere tree-hugging opposition to mining, which is a major employer thereabouts. This cartoon doesn't touch on that aspect of the issue.)

The BWCA is on Minnesota's Canadian border; it's a gorgeous place, which I canoed with a church group the summer immediately prior to my freshman year in college. I remember the trip well -- straddling the U.S.-Canadian border sitting in some rapids; visiting "Root Beer Annie" for her home brew; portaging up to 210 rods at a time; rushing to reach a campsite ahead of a rainstorm coming up behind us.

My connection to the Boundary Waters extends back even before I was born. My parents canoed there and in the Quetico (on the other side of the border) during their courtship.

I don't usually agree to draw cartoons gratis, but in this case, I was happy to make an exception.