Minnesota Governor Issues Executive Order Blocking Controversial Mine Near the Boundary Waters 

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued an executive order Tuesday morning that effectively blocks a controversial mine plan that had been advancing near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 

In April Congress voted to roll back protections within the Rainy River Headwaters Watershed, which is the network of rivers and lakes that runs through the most popular wilderness area in the country. That rollback opened the door for a Chilean mining conglomerate, Antofagasta PLC, to advance its plan for a copper-nickel mine within the watershed. Outdoorsmen and conservationists who oppose the mine had one last best hope for protections: an executive order from the state governor or legislation passed through the state legislature. Those protections came through today in Walz’s sweeping executive order. 

“I am using my full executive authority to protect the waters and wildlife of the Boundary Waters and to ensure the outfitters, small businesses, and communities that depend on it continue to thrive for generations to come,” Walz said in a statement accompanying the executive order. “It’s our duty as Minnesotans to ensure the sacred place remains wild, pristine, and unharmed.”

The order directs the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to:
 

• Not undertake any environmental review or permit work associated with proposals for nonferrous mineral mining in the Rainy River Headwaters Watershed until the resolution of the Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness v. DNR litigation and rulemaking. 
• Not participate as a cooperating agency in any federal environmental review of any proposed nonferrous mining project in the RRHW. 
• Not offer any new state nonferrous mineral leases in the RRHW. 
• Not offer any new state surface leases for nonferrous mining operations in the RRHW.
• Review all existing state nonferrous mineral leases located within the RRHW and strictly enforce compliance with the terms of those leases to the fullest extent of the law.  
• Draft legislative language prohibiting nonferrous mining in the RRHW for consideration as part of the agency’s budget and policy development process. 

The order also directs the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to “not undertake any environmental review or permit work associated with proposals for nonferrous mineral mining in the RRHW until the resolution of the Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness v. DNR litigation and rulemaking.”

Hunters, anglers, and paddlers around the country are certain to celebrate these new state orders, as the battle for permanent protection of the Boundary Waters has gone on for years. A poll from 2020 found that 60 percent of registered Minnesota voters opposed building new mines near the BWCA, while only 22 percent supported it.

“This announcement is a huge step towards permanently protecting the Boundary Waters from copper-nickel mining at the state level,” says Lukas Leaf, executive director of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters. “Despite the actions of the current administration, Gov. Walz stepped up and acted on behalf of hundreds of thousands across the country who have made it clear that our public lands and waters are worth protecting. Minnesota knows the value of our precious wild places, and we’re going to keep fighting tooth and nail to keep them.”

A Problematic Mining Proposal

This region of Northeastern Minnesota, known as the Iron Range, has a long history of taconite mining. However the type of copper-nickel mining being proposed by Twin Metals, a subsidiary of Antofagasta PLC, has never been conducted in the state. 

Conservationists oppose the mine because of the large-scale environmental damage it could cause. They argue that, without question, the wilderness area will be damaged if the mine were to go through and cite a history of pollution from this type of mining across the United States. Because of the proposed mine’s location — at the headwaters of the BWCA — any potential pollution or acid mine drainage would likely flow into the wilderness area, Voyageurs National Park, and Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park.

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There have also been several reported conflicts of interest between the mining group and the Trump administration. The Star Tribune reported earlier this year that Twin Metals Minnesota paid $380,000 to the Bernhardt Group, a newly formed lobbying firm led by Trump’s former Interior secretary David Bernhardt. 

The newspaper also reported that Twin Metals had previously hired Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, which was Bernhardt’s former firm, as well as others. Twin Metals switched exclusively to the Bernhardt Group last year.

The Trump Administration pushed Congressional Republicans to pass the rollback of protections in spring. 

“These Republicans that were leaning our way buckled under the pressure from this Administration,” says Leaf.“Which is super unfortunate and, frankly, they should know better.”

E&E news reported last summer that the Bernhardt Group’s founders include other former senior Trump administration officials, including: Cole Rojewski, who served as Interior’s director of congressional and legislative affairs; Todd Willens, who served as chief of staff for Bernhardt; and Luke Johnson, who served as deputy director of policy and programs at the Bureau of Land Management.

“I think this vote demonstrates the tremendous behemoth that we are operating against,” Ingrid Lyons, executive director for Save the Boundary Waters told Outdoor Life this spring. “It’s not just an international mining conglomerate, it’s not just the wealthiest family in South America, it’s not just Twin Metals, it’s not just the White House. It’s also former White House officials.”

In 2017 the Wall Street Journal reported that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner rented a home from Chilean billionaire Andrónico Luksic, who is the owner of the mining conglomerate Antofagasta PLC.

In 2020, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness sued the Minnesota DNR  for claiming that the current nonferrous mine siting rule is inadequate to protect the Boundary Waters. NEMW argues that the rule should prohibit nonferrous metallic mineral mining in the entire watershed. That lawsuit, referenced in Walz’s executive order, is ongoing. 

Leaf, of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, says the long-term goal is permanent protections through the state legislature and he sees this executive order as a move in that direction. 

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“It certainly sets a precedent for the next governor and next legislature,” Leaf says.  

Walz is not running for reelection in the fall. The likely next governor of Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar, gave a personal speech on the Senate floor in April criticizing the Trump Administration’s effort to roll back Boundary Waters protections.