The Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota is one of the last wild places in America. It is an international wonder that is on National Geographic’s list of places one must visit in one’s lifetime. Sadly, the wilderness is threatened by a proposed copper-nickle mine that would be built directly in the watershed flowing into the BWCA, only a few miles south of the wilderness. These are the dirtiest mining operations there are. In 2014, the Mount Polley copper/gold mine in British Columbia destroyed thousands and thousands of acres of pristine wilderness by releasing a toxic slurry of mining debris when its tailings pond failed. The environmental damage is irreparable.
In the waning days of the Obama Administration, through the tireless efforts of a brave group from Ely Minnesota, The Forest Service and BLM terminated the Federal mineral leases upon which the project depends. The government also proposed to withdraw these mining blocks from the mining program pending an environmental study. These decisions are out for comment. It is critical that everyone appalled by the current Republican assault on the environment comment in favor of the withdrawal, which would kill the proposed mine. Fortunately, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness has made that act of defiance of Trump and in support of protecting the environment simple. Just go to: www.savetheboundarywaters.org/… and you can submit your comment by signing your name to prepared comments and clicking away. It is a simple thing to do to try to save our environment-please consider doing so.