Commentary: New administration reignites debate around mining, Minnesota’s Boundary Waters – Outdoor News
Editor’s note: The following commentary includes a press statement from the group, “Save the Boundary Waters,” as well as a news release from the office of U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents northern Minnesota. Both have been edited for space considerations and to omit repetition.
On Feb. 5, U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (Minnesota, District 8) re-introduced the Superior National Forest Restoration Act, which would reverse the historic 2023 Biden administration decision to protect 225,504 acres of the Superior National Forest in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness headwaters from mining development and degradation for 20 years (Public Land Order 7917).
Stauber’s bill would rescind the Biden administration’s 20-year mineral withdrawal, automatically force the issuance of federal mineral leases to Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, and place an expedited review timeline on any environmental review and project permits within the watershed of the BWCAW and Voyageurs National Park.
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A previous version of this bill, H.R. 3195, passed the full U.S. House of Representatives on April 30, 2024.
“Rep. Stauber’s bill is a giveaway of America’s most popular wilderness area – the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – to a foreign mining company,” said Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters. “Rep. Stauber’s bill undermines the robust record of science, public opinion, law, and economics that clearly demonstrates that this iconic American landscape is absolutely no place for our nation’s most dangerous industry.
“Seventy percent of Minnesotans want the Boundary Waters protected from sulfide-ore copper mining, including over half of Rep. Stauber’s district. This deeply unpopular, anti-wilderness legislation must be stopped in the Senate. As always, Save the Boundary Waters is evaluating and tracking administrative actions and legislation as part of our ongoing efforts to address the ongoing threats to the (BWCAW), “ Lyons said.
The bill would set a dangerous precedent for America’s public lands. The legislation threatens meaningful public input processes that have been critical in the fight to protect the Boundary Waters permanently.
Over the past five years, opportunities for public input on proposed sulfide-ore copper mining near the Boundary Waters have resulted in Americans submitting more than 675,000 comments to the federal government supporting protections for the Boundary Waters watershed.
On Jan. 26, 2023, then-U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland signed a Public Land Order that withdrew 225,504 acres of public lands located in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from the federal mineral leasing program for 20 years.
Her action was informed by the diligent scientific work of resource scientists and professional land managers in the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, who considered the environmental risks of sulfide-ore copper mining on land, water, and wildlife, the potential harm to Native American communities, treaty rights, and resources; and climate change implications resulting from the destruction of forest land and the vast consumption of energy by mining companies.
A vast collection of peer-reviewed science shows that if Antofagasta’s Twin Metals copper-nickel mine were built along the rivers and streams flowing into the Boundary Waters, pollution and environmental degradation would be certain.
Stauber’s news release
On Feb. 5, Congressman Pete Stauber reintroduced his Superior National Forest Restoration Act, legislation to overturn the Biden administration’s mineral withdrawal of 225,504 acres in the Superior National Forest, restore long-held mineral leases, and ensure timely reviews of Mine Plans of Operation.
Of this legislation, Stauber stated, “The Biden administration’s mineral withdrawal in the Superior National Forest two years ago was a direct attack on our way of life in northern Minnesota and threatened our nation’s strategic national security. Thankfully, with Donald Trump back in the White House and Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, we are well positioned to reverse the damage done by President Biden and turn Minnesota into a critical mineral powerhouse.
“All options are on the table to overturn this mineral withdrawal, including the Superior National Forest Restoration Act, which would also reinstate mineral leases in the area and ensure timely reviews of Mine Plans of Operation. President Trump is the most pro-mining U.S. president in our nation’s history, and I look forward to working with his administration to get important mining projects across the finish line here in Minnesota, and nationwide.”
