Spanning 1.1 million acres, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northern Minnesota is the largest Wilderness east of the Rockies and north of the Everglades. With over 1,000 pristine lakes and 1,200 miles of rivers and streams, the Boundary Waters Wilderness contains some of the cleanest fresh water in the United States, and is beloved by the thousands of people who visit every year.

In spite of this, the mining industry has long eyed the national forest land surrounding the BWCAW for their toxic mining operations—which would come at great expense to the Wilderness, clean water, and wildlife.

Fortunately, in January 2023, the Biden administration issued a 20-year moratorium on sulfide-ore copper mining on 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest land in the watershed of the BWCAW as Public Land Order 7917. This reprieve was thanks in no small part to thousands of our members and supporters who spoke up to defend the Boundary Waters Wilderness.

Unfortunately, the mining industry and their supporters in Congress are working hard to reverse this protective 20-year moratorium. Some local mining supporters have even called for mining within the Boundary Waters Wilderness!

On January 12, Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) introduced House Joint Resolution 140 that would overturn the 20-year moratorium under specious claims of the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which has never before been used for Public Land Orders. And, since the deadline for using the CRA has long since passed (Public Land Order 7917 was published in the Federal Register in 2023), Rep. Stauber published a phony notice in the Congressional Record this month in an attempt to re-start the CRA clock. The House of Representatives may vote on H.J. Res. 140 as early as the week of January 19.

Removing Boundary Waters protections by passing H.J. Res. 140 would blatantly ignore the voices of the American people and prioritize the profits of a foreign mining company—Chilean conglomerate Antofagasta—over the interest of this nation’s citizenry and beloved Wilderness.

Your help is needed now to convince your representative to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from this mining threat by opposing H.J. Res. 140.