REGIONAL— Even as the Biden administration approved a 20-year mineral withdrawal on a portion of the Superior National Forest last week, supporters of expanded protections for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness say they’re keeping the pressure on for a permanent fix.
They are targeting roughly the same 225,000-acre piece of the upper Rainy River watershed in the latest legislation introduced by Minnesota Fourth District Congresswoman Betty McCollum. The St. Paul Congresswoman has been among the most ardent backers of protection for the 1.1 million-acre BWCAW for years and she has been working for nearly a decade to pass a measure that would, in effect, expand a mining buffer zone that was established around portions of the area under the 1978 Boundary Waters Wilderness Act. That buffer zone did not encompass portions of the national forest around the Kawishiwi River watershed in part due to existing mineral leases there that had been issued a dozen years earlier. Those leases have since been canceled, although the companies involved, Twin Metals and parent Antofagasta, are challenging that decision in court.
While McCollum lauded the Biden administration’s recent decision to implement the temporary mineral withdrawal, she noted that a future administration could opt to reverse the decision, potentially reopening the area to copper-nickel mining.
“That is why I am committed to reintroducing the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act in the 118th Congress to continue working to protect this national treasure in perpetuity,” said McCollum in a press statement.
The measure would encompass 234,328 acres in the Superior National Forest, about 9,000 more acres than included in the withdrawal. It specifically exempts taconite mining from the ban, although there are no known plans for taconite mining in the affected area and the geological formation known to hold taconite does not extend into the affected area.
“The freshwater in this area is pristine, and contamination from heavy metals and sulfuric acid from mine tailings would cause irreparable harm that would quickly spread through the Boundary Waters’ 1.1 million acres of interconnected lakes and streams,” said McCollum in a press statement. “This would damage the unique wildlife, hurt the region’s recreation-based economy, and preclude hundreds of thousands of visitors from Minnesota and across the country from enjoying this wilderness. Once damaged, it cannot be restored.”
While the prospects for passage of the bill in the current GOP-led House aren’t favorable, Becky Rom, national chair of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, said persistence pays off when it comes to legislation.
“Every time the bill is introduced, we build support,” she said. “It’s eventually going to happen.”