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Your voice is needed—again—to defend the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Wilderness Watch and our members breathed a sigh of relief in January 2022 when the Biden administration canceled two mining leases for the proposed Twin Metals mine. And again in January 2023, when the administration issued a 20-year moratorium on sulfide-ore mining on national forest land surrounding the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The reprieve for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would be short-lived if the mining industry and their supporters in Congress have their way!

Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) recently introduced House Concurrent Resolution 34 and H.R. 3195 to reverse the 20-year mining ban on federal public land upstream of the fabled Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Rep. Stauber’s troubling legislation comes on the heels of a Congressional field hearing he hosted on May 2, during which the congressman and numerous witnesses repeatedly called for toxic sulfide-ore mining at the doorstep and directly upstream from the Boundary Waters. One of Rep. Stauber’s handpicked witnesses even advocated for mining WITHIN the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness!

Fortunately, earlier this year, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) re-introduced the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act (H.R. 668) to permanently withdraw federal public lands and minerals in the 234,328-acre Rainy River watershed in northeastern Minnesota from mineral exploration and development. The Rainy River watershed includes much of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park. The other good news is that Rep. McCollum’s bill currently has 46 co-sponsors.

Over the past eight years, Wilderness Watch’s members and supporters have literally written tens of thousands of letters to defend the Boundary Waters Wilderness from the threats posed by toxic sulfide-ore mining. Thank you!

Now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness needs your help again!

Please write your representative and urge them to oppose House Concurrent Resolution 34 and H.R. 3195, and co-sponsor and pass H.R. 668.

Together, we will keep the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness wild.

Speak Up to Defend the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness!

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Photo: Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness by Mike Sweet/USFWS.

Please write your U.S. House Rep today and urge them to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from mining

Your U.S. House Rep

Subject: Protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness and watershed from mining

Message:

As your constituent, I’m urging you to oppose House Concurrent Resolution 34 and H.R. 3195, which would reverse the recently enacted 20-year mining ban on federal public land upstream of the fabled Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. House Concurrent Resolution 34 and H.R. 3195 are clearly a brazen attempt by the mining industry to bring toxic sulfide-ore mining to the doorstep and directly upstream from the Boundary Waters Wilderness—America's most visited and water-rich Wilderness with over 1,000 pristine lakes and 1,200 miles of rivers and streams. I’m also urging you to co-sponsor and pass the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act (H.R. 668). This bill would withdraw federal public lands and minerals in the 234,328-acre Rainy River watershed in northeastern Minnesota from mineral exploration and development. The Rainy River watershed includes much of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the mining industry is America’s largest toxic polluter, with headwater streams polluted by mining around the country. In particular, the lakes, rivers, and streams of the Boundary Waters watershed are among the cleanest waters in North America, and are especially sensitive to acids and heavy-metals found in open-pit mining pollution. Again, please oppose House Concurrent Resolution 34 and H.R. 3195, and co-sponsor the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act (HR 668) and work for its passage in the U.S. House. Thank you.

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Your voice is needed—again—to defend the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

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