ELY- Gov. Tim Walz brought a proclamation and a declaration of victory to Ely on Tuesday, telling a packed house of Boundary Waters supporters at the Ely Folk School that Minnesota would no longer assist efforts to develop a copper-nickel mine upstream from the wilderness—at least for the next eight months.
Walz proclaimed Aug. 18, 2026, as Save the Boundary Waters Day, hours after signing an executive order directing state agencies to pause environmental review and permitting for nonferrous mining projects in the Rainy River Headwaters Watershed.
“I hope today gives you some closure on this, that it’s just, it’s done,” Walz said. “And they’re not going to do it going forward.”
By state law, Walz’s executive order expires 90 days after he leaves office in January. A new governor would need to renew the order for it to continue, so the issue of state’s role in determining the future of a potential copper-nickel mine near Ely will continue to be fought out in St. Paul.
Walz has a long personal connection to the Boundary Waters, beginning with the purchase of his first canoe from Ely outfitters Steve and Nancy Piragis more than 30 years ago. That connection took on a deeper meaning after his brother, Craig, was killed during a 2016 storm at Duncan Lake, one of more than 1,500 lakes in the BWCAW.
Walz said Craig got members of his party out of their tents as trees began falling, then threw himself over his 14-year-old son, Jake, to protect him.
“My brother was killed, and Jake had dozens of broken bones,” Walz said. “And it was folks from up here who paddled in there in that storm, brought Jake out, and I’m glad to say he’s at graduate school right now to be an engineer. So, this place is very sacred to us. It’s a place that matters.”
What the order does
Walz’s executive order directs the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to pause any environmental review or permitting work on nonferrous mining proposals in the Rainy River Headwaters until litigation over Minnesota’s nonferrous mining rules and any resulting rulemaking have been fully resolved.
The DNR also will not serve as a cooperating agency in any federal environmental review of a proposed nonferrous mine in the watershed. The order prevents the state from offering new nonferrous mineral leases or surface leases for mining operations there and directs the DNR to review existing state leases and enforce their terms “to the fullest extent of the law.”
The agency also must draft legislation prohibiting nonferrous mining in the watershed for consideration during its budget and policy development process.
The order applies to the upper reaches of the Rainy River Headwaters, whose waters flow into the Boundary Waters. Mining is already prohibited within the BWCAW itself, while surface disturbance is prohibited within a Mineral Management Corridor surrounding it.
The order came in response to congressional action signed by President Donald Trump overturning a 2023 Biden administration withdrawal of about 225,000 acres of federal land from mineral leasing for 20 years. The federal reversal reopened a potential path for the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine near Ely, although the project would still need state and federal mineral leases, state and federal environmental review, and permits before proceeding.
Walz portrayed his order as ending that possibility.
“As far as our administration is concerned, this debate about whether the Boundary Waters can be mined, you can’t unwind it,” he said. “You can’t unwind it. It will not be.”
Walz also dismissed suggestions that the Trump administration could oversee mining without endangering the Boundary Waters.
“They can’t even manage a reflecting pool,” Walz said, referring to problems with the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington. “No one believes that they are going to protect this.”
Despite Walz’s declaration of finality, the executive order does not permanently block mining in the watershed.
Walz acknowledged the need for legislative action during his Ely appearance.
“The final step on this is when the Legislature comes back in January, they need to codify this as tightly as they possibly can in law and send it to the governor and make sure that it happens,” he said.
The order will take effect 15 days after its publication in the State Register and filing with the Secretary of State.
Becky Rom, national chair of Save the Boundary Waters, said the order recognizes that copper mining cannot safely coexist with the wilderness.
“This action helps safeguard the clean water, world-class wilderness, and outdoor economy that generations of Minnesotans cherish,” Rom said. “The Boundary Waters is simply too important to gamble with, and Governor Walz’s executive order is a major step toward ensuring this irreplaceable wilderness remains protected for future generations.”
Regional criticism
Walz’s action drew objections from northeastern Minnesota political leaders and candidates from both parties. Their criticism centered on the order bypassing environmental review, the Legislature, and people living in the affected region.
State Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, said he strongly disagreed with the governor’s decision and objected to such a consequential action being taken by a governor preparing to leave office.
“The truth is, no one can honestly say whether they support a mining project before it has gone through the full environmental review and permitting process,” Hauschild said. “Minnesota has some of the strongest environmental and labor standards in the country. If a project can’t meet them, it shouldn’t move forward.”
Rep. Roger Skraba, R-Ely, described the order as a “devastating blow” to the Iron Range and Northland. Skraba, a former Ely mayor who also operates a BWCA guide service, said Minnesota’s permitting standards should be allowed to work.
“Northlanders are tired of having our future decided for us by leaders who don’t understand our communities, our people, or our way of life,” Skraba said. “Let the review process work, let our communities have a voice, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Aaron Kania, a former Forest Service official challenging Skraba for the District 3A House seat, also criticized the absence of a deliberative process involving area communities and businesses. Kania said the two comments he has heard most often while campaigning are, “We must protect the Boundary Waters,” and “We need good jobs.”
Andrea Zupancich, Hauschild’s Republican challenger, District 7B Rep. Cal Warwas, the only active miner in the Legislature, and the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools issued statements raising similar objections over local input, potential jobs, and the decision to stop project reviews before they are completed.
U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents the Eighth Congressional District, called the order “an outright war on northern Minnesota and our way of life.” Stauber has been one of the most prominent advocates for expanding critical-mineral mining in the region and helped push efforts in Congress to reverse the federal mineral withdrawal.
Stauber also called on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar to state whether she would continue Walz’s policy.
“The Iron Range, and every Minnesotan, is watching at this critical moment, and they deserve a clear answer,” he said.
Klobuchar told MPR News shortly after the order was announced that she had not yet reviewed its wording. She said she has serious concerns about mining next to the BWCAW but did not say whether she would replace Walz’s order if elected.
“There’s other mining going on across the Range, including Mesabi Metallics’ iron ore mine about to open up, and some other proposed mining projects that don’t endanger the Boundary Waters, that I think it is important to continue to allow pending environmental reviews to go forward,” Klobuchar said.
Her Republican opponent, House Speaker Lisa Demuth, said mining should remain part of Minnesota’s future.
“We can do it safely here better than anywhere in the world, protecting our beloved outdoors while benefiting from the job creation and tax revenue these projects bring to northern Minnesota,” Demuth said.
Lawsuit remains unresolved
The legal case referenced in Walz’s order began in June 2020, when Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness sued the DNR under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act (MERA). The organization, which leads the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, contends Minnesota’s nonferrous mine-siting rule does not adequately protect the BWCAW from mining elsewhere in the Rainy River Headwaters.
The group argues that nonferrous mining should be prohibited throughout the watershed because of the risk that pollution could reach the interconnected waters of the wilderness. Twin Metals intervened in the case.
The case followed an unusual procedure established by MERA. After Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness made an initial showing that the state’s rule might be inadequate, the court sent the question to the DNR for administrative proceedings. That left the DNR, although named as the defendant, responsible for evaluating the adequacy of its own rule, with the court retaining authority to review the agency’s eventual decision.
Following public comments and a contested-case hearing, the DNR issued its final agency decision on April 10. The agency concluded that the mine-siting rule, combined with other state and federal regulations, adequately protects BWCAW waters from pollution arising from nonferrous mining.
It reached the opposite conclusion about noise and light, finding the current rule inadequate to protect the wilderness from those impacts. The DNR ordered rulemaking to amend the existing siting rule or develop a new one addressing noise and light from mining in the watershed.
Both Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and Twin Metals asked Ramsey County District Court on June 8 to review the decision. The DNR has said it will not begin rulemaking until the court proceedings have been completed.
That process could extend well beyond Walz’s remaining time in office, leaving the order’s longer-term effect dependent on the Legislature or Minnesota’s next governor.
For Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe Chairman Carlos Hernandez, who joined Walz for the order’s announcement in the Twin Cities, the issue reaches beyond regulatory policy. The Rainy River basin includes ancestral Ojibwe lands and resources protected by treaty rights, including hunting, fishing, and gathering.
“We have heard promises that copper-nickel mining can be done safely, but when we’re talking about water that our people have depended on for generations, we cannot afford to find out after the fact that those promises were wrong,” Hernandez said.