The Save the Boundary Waters campaign is asking for signatures on a petition to protect the Boundary Waters. The coalition is attempting to get 50,000 people to sign by the end of February to be hand-delivered in Washington D.C. to policy makers.
The petition reads:
I am writing to urge you to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Boundary Waters is the most visited wilderness area in the National Wilderness Preservation System, with 250,000 annual visitors every year. As part of the greatest canoe country wilderness in the world, the Boundary Waters provides unparalleled opportunities for wilderness experiences. The economic health of local communities in northeastern Minnesota, including the livelihood of the 18,000 people who work in the region’s thriving recreation and tourism industry, depends on the clean water, healthy fisheries, and intact ecosystem of the Boundary Waters.
Toxic mining pollution (acidic waters, heavy metal contaminants, and sulfates) from the proposed sulfide-ore mines in the watershed of the Boundary Waters would damage rivers and lakes that flow into the heart of the Boundary Waters, including iconic Basswood Lake.
I urge you to protect Minnesota’s cherished Boundary Waters and the many businesses and jobs that depend on it.
Learn more or sign it here.
Save The Boundary Waters was organized by local residents in and around Ely, Minnesota, who are dedicated to creating a national movement to protect the clean water, clean air and forest landscape of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and its watershed from toxic pollution caused by mining copper, nickel and other metals from sulfide-bearing ore.