A broad coalition has sent letters to leaders of two key federal agencies, calling on them to reinstate Obama-era protections for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The groups are requesting that all mineral leases and other activities be suspended as planned while a two-year study of the issue is completed.
Three separate letters were sent to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke — which oversees the Bureau of Land Management — and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue — the parent agency of the Forest Service. The respective letters were signed by sporting groups, conservation groups, and businesses.
“For years now, hunters, anglers, and others have been engaged in exposing the threat posed by the proposals to develop large-scale mines within the Boundary Waters watershed,” said Land Tawney, director of the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a signatory to the sporting group letter. “We’re not about to back down now. These iconic public lands must be conserved.”
The move was in response to two recent developments: the federal government’s announcement it would reinstate mineral leases to Twin Metals for its possible mine near the South Kawishiwi River, and the company’s subsequent announcement clarifying its mine proposal and plans to move forward.
In late 2016, the Obama administration rejected Twin Metals’ attempt to renew leases which date back to 1966 — before the modern era of environmental laws. It also initiated the study of possibly enacting a 20-year moratorium on mining in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
In January, the Trump administration has also announced it will scale back the study.
“Hunters, anglers, and recreational users support the Forest Service’s comprehensive, science-based analysis of environmental, economic, and social impacts of the proposed twenty-year withdrawal,” reads the letter from the sporting groups. “This study includes an assessment of the impacts that the inevitable consequences of copper mining, including acid mine drainage, would have on the public lands, fish, and wildlife of the Boundary Waters and downstream lands and waters.”
Groups signing the hunting and angling letter included: Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Patagonia, Simms Fishing Products, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society,
Signatories to the conservation group letter include: Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Voyageurs National Park Association, American Rivers, the Wilderness Society, and many others.
Members of the Boundary Waters Business Coalition include: Piragis Northwoods Co., Ely Outfitting Co., River Point Resort, Northstar Canoes, Wenonah Canoes, and more.