Just days after Congress lifted a mining ban near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, tribes and environmental leaders gathered in Minneapolis to launch a new watershed protection initiative and urge state lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to stop the proposed projects.
Advocates at the state capitol in Minneapolis launched “Convening Across Watersheds,” a campaign that brings together various groups opposed to mining near the federally protected waters.
“This is a united front to protect all the watersheds from copper nickel sulfide mining,” said Chris Knopf, executive director of the group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. The coalition also includes the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Save the Boundary Waters and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
Minnesota has emerged as a national focal point as Republicans like Rep. Pete Stauber and President Donald Trump push to jump-start domestic mining and processing of minerals like nickel, copper, lithium and cobalt. This has included support for projects in the state’s Iron Range, a collection of mining districts in northeastern Minnesota and the nation’s biggest source of iron ore.
