WASHINGTON – Sen. Tina Smith announced that she had introduced the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection Act on Wednesday in an effort to permanently protect more than 225,000 acres of federal lands and waters in the Superior National Forest, which includes Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park. If passed, the bill will safeguard the area from new sulfide mines.
Twin Metals, a mining company that is a subsidiary of the giant Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, has long pushed to build an underground mine for copper, nickel and precious metals near Ely, just south of the Boundary Waters.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is the most-visited wilderness area in the United States. Sportsmen travel there to fish and hunt and families and visitors from around the world canoe, kayak and swim.
In response to the bill’s introduction, Environment Minnesota Conservation Advocate Katelynn Rolfes released the following statement:
“The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is one of the most special examples of nature in Minnesota and the entire United States. With permanent protections in place, future generations will be able to canoe and kayak on more than 1,200 miles of clean water. Mining, with its toxic pollution, downstream contamination and the ecological havoc it creates, should never again be considered in this watershed. We thank Senator Smith for her leadership.”
