Minnesota Executive Order Protects Boundary Waters After Congress Strips Federal Safeguards

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Andrew Scibetta
Press Secretary
Elizabeth Heyd
Media Associate

WASHINGTON, DC— Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order adopting key safeguards for the permitting of new sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed and directing state agencies to draft legislation that would make those protections permanent. In addition, Governor Walz’s order halts the permitting of new surface sulfide-ore copper mines on state public lands that would be located in the watershed. The order fills a gap left when Congress voted in April to eliminate  a 20-year federal ban on the issuance of new mining leases on federal lands in the same watershed.

Following is a reaction from Andrew Wetzler, senior vice president for nature at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“The Boundary Waters is one of America's most treasured wildernesses, home to clean waters and wild lands that belong to all of us. Washington sold out the Boundary Waters this spring to serve mining interests. Governor Walz's action today makes clear that Minnesota will not go along with it. When the federal government strips away protections for America's most iconic wild places, states have both the responsibility and the power to step in, and this executive order shows what that looks like.

“There is no fix for a poisoned watershed. Copper mining in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters poses an incalculable risk to clean drinking water, wildlife, and a recreation economy that supports thousands of Minnesota families. There’s no way to reverse the damage once it starts. The Minnesota legislature must now finish what Governor Walz started and lock in permanent protections so no future administration can trade this wilderness away.”
 

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).

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