Trump administration says it will move to allow mining near Boundary Waters, after Congress pulls back
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
The Trump administration says it is starting the process to reverse a 20-year mining moratorium on a big swath of federal land adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, one day after a provision to end the moratorium was stripped out of the massive budget bill moving through Congress.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, along with Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum, made the announcement on X Wednesday afternoon.
“After careful review, including extensive public input, the U.S. Forest Service has enough information to know the withdrawal was never needed,” Rollins concluded.
Two years ago, the Biden administration imposed a ban on mining, known formally as a mineral withdrawal, over about 350 square miles of the Superior National Forest just south of the Boundary Waters, and within the watershed of the wilderness area.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
The Forest Service at the time deemed that the risk of mining for copper, nickel and precious metals posed too great a risk for severe water pollution that could cause “irreparable harm” to the watershed.
But President Trump for months has said he intended to reverse the mining moratorium. At a campaign stop in St. Cloud last year before the election, he promised to end the ban in “10 to 15 minutes.”
Until this point, however, the administration hasn’t acted specifically on the mining issue near the Boundary Waters.
Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents northeast Minnesota in Congress, introduced legislation in February to end the mining moratorium.
His bill would also return two key federal mineral leases to Twin Metals Minnesota, part of the Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, which is seeking to open an underground copper mine on the shore of Birch Lake outside Ely, and within the area covered by the moratorium.
Those provisions were included last month by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in the budget reconciliation bill, a budget tool Republicans are using that enables Congress to bypass the 60-vote threshold normally required to pass a bill in the Senate.
But a U.S. House rules committee stripped the language from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on Tuesday. It was one of several provisions taken out for not complying with the budget reconciliation process, because it deals with policy and not strictly budgetary items.
“Today marks a victory in our fight to protect the Boundary Waters,” U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in a statement Tuesday. “I am relieved to announce that we were successful in forcing Republicans to drop this language attacking the Boundary Waters from the bill.”
Environmental groups also praised the move. But the victory for environmental groups working to prevent mining for copper and nickel in the watershed of the million-acre Boundary Waters wilderness may prove to be short-lived if the Trump administration follows through on its pledge to undo the mining moratorium.
“The announcement by Secretaries Burgum and Rollins is shocking. They claim to have consulted with the people of Minnesota about the Boundary Waters when they clearly have not. We deserve so much better than this, as Minnesotans and as Americans,” Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters, said in a statement.
Lyons said Rollins’ statement was inaccurate. No public comments have been gathered by federal agencies, and no public meetings have been held, since ahead of the Biden administration’s decision to impose the moratorium in 2023.
“Not this mine. Not this place. The Boundary Waters are too precious. See you in court,” U.S. Senator Tina Smith said on social media.
In a statement praising the announcement from Rollins, U.S. Rep. Stauber said that allowing mining near the Boundary Waters would help ease reliance on China.
“As the demand for critical minerals continues to skyrocket, I look forward to seeing Minnesota’s skilled miners safely deliver our vast mineral wealth to the nation using the best labor and environmental standards in the world,” Stauber said.
Mining proponents have long argued that modern methods can protect the Boundary Waters, while also providing high-paying jobs in rural Minnesota and mining minerals needed for the clean energy transition.
Julie Lucas, executive director of the industry group MiningMinnesota, said the language removal from the Congressional bill delays actions that are needed “to ensure Americans can build and power tomorrow with responsibly mined minerals. Leaders from both sides of the aisle recognize the need to increase our domestic production of minerals, and we welcome conversations about Minnesota’s role in meeting those mineral security goals.”
