Last week, Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber introduced a resolution that would undo a three-year-old mining moratorium on over 225,000 acres in the Rainy River watershed—upstream of the famed Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). The move not only threatens one of America’s most iconic wild places but has broader ramifications for the future of public land management elsewhere in the country.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is a large wilderness comprised of over 1,000 lakes in Northern Minnesota. According to Lukas Leaf, executive director for Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, it’s widely regarded as a world-class destination for its walleye, lake trout, smallmouth bass, and northern pike fishing. It also offers plentiful opportunities for grouse, black bear, whitetail deer, and duck hunting. The recreational and ecological significance of the area prompted conservationists to push for protections on the Rainy River watershed upstream of BWCA—and in 2023, Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued a 20-year mining moratorium in the area.
“The mine is proposed directly upstream of the Boundary Waters,” Leaf said. “This type of mining has a terrible track record, and if it were to pollute those waterways with heavy metals or acid mine drainage, it would spread throughout that lake-land wilderness.”
To undo the mining moratorium, Stauber introduced what’s known as a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act on Monday, January 12. The political maneuver is particularly notable because the Congressional Review Act has historically been used to review federal land rules and not to overturn mineral withdrawals.
“Essentially, what Stauber is saying is that the Biden Administration did not properly submit a mineral withdrawal for over 5,000 acres even though they did so through the Federal Land Policy and Management Act,” Leaf explained. “If this moves forward, it could be applied to similar actions in other parts of the country.”
Additionally, rules revoked under the Congressional Review Act cannot be reinstituted, meaning it would likely not be feasible to reinstitute similar mining protections in the region in the future.
“Mining in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters would pollute one of the crown jewels of America’s public lands and pose a toxic threat to the Wilderness and the approximately 250,000 people who visit it each year,” said Wilderness Society government relations director Jordan Schreiber in a press release. Congress should reject this legislative scheme, which relies on unprecedented treatment of a public land order, and defend this critical landscape for present and future generations.”
Experts say that Stauber’s resolution could be voted on as soon as Wednesday, January 21; a similar measure is being considered for legality by the Senate Parliamentarian. Leaf says that it’s all hands on deck to protect the famed wilderness area by calling your local representatives. He adds that the perspectives and political clout of hunters and anglers are especially important.
“I started going to the BWCA when I was 12 with my dad and his friends for the spring fishing opener for lake trout,” Leaf said. “I’ve spent nearly 250 nights there. It has shaped me into the outdoorsman that I am today. My dad and I used to call it ‘going to church.’ A lot of people resonate with that when it comes to the Boundary Waters.”
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