Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation

Ernest Oberholtzer lived on Mallard Island in Rainy Lake for most of his adult life. The Ober Foundation preserves Ober's north woods home and shares his wilderness advocacy legacy through program weeks throughout the summer. We use mostly volunteer labor to maintain our historic buildings on Mallard Island. 

Each summer about 130-135 people come to Mallard to volunteer during a work week or to participate in a program week. Themes of the weeks typically involve nature, the arts, music, Anishinaabe cultural teachings and practices, research, and wilderness and environmental advocacy.  Our guests have access to our collections and stay in rustic historic cabins. 

In 2022, our historic site experienced a historic flood. We were able to save our collections. Repairs were made to the affected buildings, and we have since rewired the entire island and it is up to state code and flood resilient!

In efforts to be more flood resilient with our collections, we moved part of our book collection to the future Mallard Island Annex Library in International Falls at the Backus Community Center! The books that we are moving were housed in a flood prone building. Moving the books will allow us to share this special collection with more people over time. 

Won't you join us in celebrating and sharing Ober's wilderness advocacy legacy by making a donation today?