The Fight For The Boundary Waters

The Boundary Waters was rescued from destruction. 24 hours later, it was betrayed again.

It’s hard to overstate how special the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is, or how close it’s come, time and again, to being destroyed. I’ve written about it before and it pains me to have to be writing about it again today. But here we are.

During the first Trump administration, the wilderness came under threat from a Chilean mining company seeking to open a massive copper-nickel mine at the edge of the watershed, a project with potentially catastrophic consequences. Fortunately, President Biden came into office before it could move forward and ordered a comprehensive scientific review.

That study concluded in late 2021, and the verdict was clear: sulfide-ore mining in the Boundary Waters watershed posed an unacceptable risk. In response, President Biden imposed a 20-year moratorium on new mining upstream of the wilderness. The public overwhelmingly supported protection. The threat, it seemed, had finally been put to rest.

But fast forward to just a week ago, and it was back, hidde…