Democratic Sen. Tina Smith is making preventing new mining near a Minnesota wilderness a priority as she prepares to leave Congress next year.
Even though Republicans control both chambers and the White House, Smith wants to rally colleagues around legislation that would make permanent Biden-era mining limits near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Smith, 67, is also looking to pressure the administration as President Donald Trump has vowed to rescind those protections.
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“It would be a very reckless move to allow mining in the Boundary Waters watershed,” Smith told POLITICO’s E&E News during an interview. “This is a precious place.”
