Progress for Protecting the Boundary Waters
Image: Joe Pohl. Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and Anishinabewaki ancestral lands.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is home to exceptional recreation opportunities including paddling, hiking, and fishing. With more than 1,200 miles of canoe routes and 2,000 designated campsites, the Boundary Waters is the most-visited Wilderness area in the country. However, the area is also threatened by sulfide-ore copper mining in the adjacent Superior National Forest.
The proposed Twin Metals mining claims sought to develop adjacent to the Boundary Waters, which has a high risk of polluting the Boundary Waters Wilderness. But thanks to outreach from many, including the outdoor community, the Biden-Harris administration temporarily protected the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Superior National Forest. The administration’s protections included a proposed twenty-year mineral withdrawal on a quarter-million acres of land that prohibits prospecting permits and mining leases and halted the two proposed federal mining claims within the Boundary Waters Watershed.
“Some places are simply too special to mine, and it is our obligation to ensure these unique and valuable lands and waters remain intact for generations to come”
As a part of the administration’s temporary protections, they required the Forest Service to do an environmental assessment to review the effects of the proposed mining ban in the area. The Forest Service recently released the draft environmental assessment and determined that sulfide-ore copper mining would pose serious risks and degrade the Boundary Waters watershed. The assessment supports the administration’s decision to halt the Twin Metals mining claims in the area.
If the Forest Service moves forward with a 20-year mineral withdrawal, that will provide strong interim protections for the Boundary Waters. While this is a great first step, we need to permanently protect this landscape. This week, Rep. Betty McCollum’s Boundary Waters Protection and Pollution Prevention Act (HR 2794) advanced out of committee. This bill would provide further protections for the region by permanently withdrawing the land surrounding the Boundary Waters from federal mining. This week’s committee vote is the farthest legislation has advanced to permanently protect the Boundary Waters area from damaging mining claims.
Rep. McCollum’s bill and the Forest Service’s environmental assessment are critical steps forward in protecting Northern Minnesota's public lands and waters, outdoor recreation opportunities, tribal communities, and the local economy. Momentum is building to protect the Boundary Waters, but this landscape needs your voice.
The Forest Service is seeking public feedback on its environmental assessment and given the outstanding recreation opportunities in the area, it’s critical to speak up in support of the twenty-year mineral withdrawal from the Boundary Waters watershed. Using the tool below, take two minutes to add your name to the letter we are delivering to the Forest Service. They are accepting comments and the deadline was recently extended from July 28 to August 13.