One of the highest-ranking Republicans in Minnesota has asked President Trump to reverse several Obama Administration actions. Included in a letter sent on Monday by Rep. Kurt Daudt, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, was a request to allow the Twin Metals mine proposal next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to go forward.
Last year, in the closing days of President Obama’s term, the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service rejected renewal of mineral leases needed by Twin Metals, and then initiated a process to block all mining in areas where water flows toward the Boundary Waters.
Daudt urged Trump to reverse the decision.
“This arbitrary decision is blocking the advance of mining projects that could bring thousands of good-paying jobs and revitalize a region with an unemployment rate higher than the state and national average,” he wrote.
He also asked Trump to let states manage wolves, instead of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as an endangered species. Previous state management included trophy hunting and trapping seasons when hundreds of animals were killed. There was an open season in Minnesota until 1974, when the animals were put on the Endangered Species List.
Earlier this week, the president signed executive orders to approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, which Obama had also blocked to protect clean water.