Yesterday, the Biden administration cancelled two mining leases for the proposed Twin Metals mine which threatens the fabled Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northeastern Minnesota. The administration’s move is the latest in a decades-long battle to stop a massive underground and open-pit copper-nickel sulfide-ore mine—some of the most toxic mining on the planet—in the watershed of the Boundary Waters. The leases had expired and were last cancelled by the Obama administration only to be unlawfully reinstated by the Trump administration. The 1.1 million-acre Boundary Waters is America's most visited Wilderness. It’s rich with native wildlife, including moose, black bears, beavers, bald eagles, gray wolves, fox, lynx, fisher, pine marten, snowshoe hare, and many other species. With more than 1,000 lakes and 1,200 miles of streams and rivers, the Boundary Waters offers a unique wilderness experience where most visitors travel by canoe. Its waters are some of the cleanest in North America, and are especially sensitive to acids and heavy metals. Pollution from this proposed mine, which is nearly next door to the canoe country Wilderness, would inevitably drain into and pollute the BWCAW with sulfuric acid, mercury, lead, arsenic, and other toxic pollution for decades if not longer.
In 2016, under the Obama administration, the Forest Service (FS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declined to renew two expired 50-year-old federal mining leases Twin Metals needs for its mine, due to the mine’s extreme and unacceptable risk to the Wilderness. However, in late 2017, Trump’s Department of Interior (DOI) issued a legal memorandum that reversed previous departmental policy and went against the earlier BLM and FS decisions to deny the renewal of the expired leases. Following that action, in May 2018, then-Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke renewed the two mining leases. It’s worth noting that the Trump family has ties to the Chilean mining company behind Twin Metals. On January 26, the DOI issued a legal opinion cancelling the leases for Twin Metals, stating that the Trump administration “improperly” renewed the leases and violated DOI regulations by “customizing lease terms specifically for Twin Metals.” This is great news for the Boundary Waters! Meanwhile, Wilderness Watch is supporting another effort by the Biden administration to protect the Wilderness—a 20-year moratorium on sulfide-ore mining on 225,378 acres of national forest land surrounding the BWCAW while environmental impact studies are completed. And we’re urging the state of Minnesota to protect the BWCAW as examines its outdated nonferrous mining rules (mining other than iron or taconite mining) following a recent court order. Over the past five years, Wilderness Watch members and supporters have sent tens of thousands of letters to defend the Boundary Waters Wilderness from the threats posed by the Twin Metals and other proposed open-pit mines. Thank you! As the battle to protect this national treasure rages on, please help us make sure the Boundary Waters is never sacrificed for the short-term financial gain of the international mining industry. |
