Federal officials vow to reverse mining ban in Boundary Waters watershed

Washington, D.C. — Via social media on Wednesday, June 11, Trump administration officials declared they would initiate the process to reverse a 20-year mining moratorium on the Rainy River watershed surrounding the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.

The announcement comes one day after advocates for protecting the BWCAW applauded the removal of a provision (Section 80131) from the U.S. House Reconciliation Bill that would have opened up the Rainy River watershed to sulfide-ore copper mining.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the plan on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

.@SecretaryBurgum and I have been working together to unleash American Energy and today we are taking another step to ensure we are getting back in the mining and energy development game.

Today, @USDA is proud to announce that we are initiating the process to cancel the mineral…

— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 11, 2025

“(Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum) and I have been working together to unleash American Energy and today we are taking another step to ensure we are getting back in the mining and energy development game,” Rollins wrote. “Today, (the Department of Agriculture) is proud to announce that we are initiating the process to cancel the mineral withdrawal in the Rainey River watershed on the Superior National Forest.”

In 2023, the Biden administration placed a 20-year ban on mining, known as a mineral withdrawal, on 225,000 acres of federal land within the Rainy River watershed of the Superior National Forest. A U.S. Forest Service Study at that time said a copper-nickel sulfide mine within the watershed of the Boundary Waters posed too great of a threat to the BWCAW.

“After careful review, including extensive public input, the US Forest Service has enough information to know the withdrawal was never needed,” Rollins wrote in her statement on X.

Proud to partner with @SecRollins to advance @POTUS’ Energy Dominance Agenda and help keep our lands open and accessible to energy and mineral development! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/HdKNzSr5A2

— Secretary Doug Burgum (@SecretaryBurgum) June 11, 2025

“Proud to partner with (Secretary Rollins) to advance (President Trump’s) Energy Dominance Agenda and help keep our lands open and accessible to energy and mineral development!” Burgum wrote in a post on X.

The organization Save the Boundary Waters quickly condemned the move, calling the statement by Rollins on X “callous and inaccurate.”

“In addition to being a horrible decision on the merits, the Secretaries claim to have recently sought and received extensive public input on this issue,” a release from Save the Boundary Waters read. “This is a shocking claim since no public comments have been gathered by any of the relevant federal agencies and no public meetings have been held since prior to robust public comments collected ahead of the 2023 decision that saw 675,000 Americans comment on copper mining in the headwaters. Approximately 98% of those who commented support a copper mining ban.”

MORE COVERAGE FROM MINNESOTA OUTDOOR NEWS:

Red River’s lake sturgeon in Minnesota show signs of spawning

Streams of Thought: More anglers turned away at border crossings as Canada ‘digs in its heels’ in regards to AIS prevention

Minnesota DNR doubtful about stocking sturgeon into Lake Minnetonka

Save the Boundary Waters said the citizens of Minnesota deserve a process where they can weigh in and be heard by leaders about how vital the Boundary Waters is to the state.

“The announcement by Secretaries Burgum and Rollins is shocking,” said Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters. “They claim to have consulted with the people of Minnesota about the Boundary Waters when they clearly have not. We deserve so much better than this, as Minnesotans and as Americans. Someday when they do, in fact, talk to Minnesotans, they’ll hear that handing over the Boundary Waters to a Chilean billionaire so he can send copper ore to China is a truly awful idea.”

Section 80131, which was stripped from the U.S. House Reconciliation Bill on Tuesday, called for the return of federal mineral leases to Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining company Antofagasta.

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., lauded the removal of the provision on Tuesday.

“America’s most visited wilderness has narrowly escaped inclusion in the Big Beautiful Bill, which would have almost guaranteed irreversible pollution from toxic copper mining in this fragile ecosystem,” Smith said in a statement that day.

On Wednesday, Smith responded to the Trump administration’s pledge to reverse the mining moratorium administratively.

Using pseudoscience to justify bad actions is pretty par for the course for these guys.

Not this mine. Not this place. The Boundary Waters are too precious.

See you in court. https://t.co/bav9zOD6Cf

— Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) June 12, 2025

“Using pseudoscience to justify bad actions is pretty par for the course for these guys,” Smith wrote while retweeting a story from the Duluth News Tribune on X. “Not this mine. Not this place. The Boundary Waters are too precious. See you in court.”

Advocates for copper-nickel mining near the BWCAW in northeastern Minnesota say it would provide high-paying jobs while being able to protect the Boundary Waters through modern mining methods. Opponents say the risk is too great to one of the country’s most unique, vast, and visited wilderness areas.

The BWCAW contains nearly 1.1 million acres of connected lakes and rivers. The wilderness provides abundant habitat for fish and wildlife species, as well as drawing visitors from all over the country, which generates a substantial economic impact in the region.