The House narrowly approved legislation Wednesday that would open hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands near Minnesota’s pristine Boundary Waters to mining.
H.J. Res. 140 from Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), chair of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, passed 214 to 208 with just two lawmakers crossing the aisle. It would reverse a Biden administration 2023 order that withdrew 225,000 acres in the Superior National Forest for more than 20 years from mining.
“Before Biden’s mining ban, we had the opportunity to mine the copper, the nickel, the cobalt, and other critical minerals that are necessary for this country to compete and win in the 21st century,” said Stauber.
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat to support the legislation, and Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska was the only Republican to oppose the language. Both are moderates who often buck their party.
