A controversial provision to open up a huge swath of federal land adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to mining for copper, nickel and other metals has been stripped from a massive budget bill moving through Congress.
The language included in the bill also had called for the return of two federal mineral leases to Twin Metals Minnesota, part of the Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, which is seeking to open an underground copper mine on the shore of Birch Lake outside Ely.
Last month the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources included the provisions in the budget reconciliation bill, a budget tool Republicans are using that enables Congress to bypass the 60-vote threshold normally required to pass a bill in the Senate.
But a U.S. House rules committee stripped the language from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on Tuesday. It was one of several provisions taken out for not complying with the budget reconciliation process, because it deals with policy and not strictly budgetary items.
“Today marks a victory in our fight to protect the Boundary Waters,” U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in a statement Tuesday. “I am relieved to announce that we were successful in forcing Republicans to drop this language attacking the Boundary Waters from the bill.”
It’s a victory for environmental groups working to prevent mining for copper and nickel in the watershed of the million-acre Boundary Waters wilderness.
They’ve been playing defense ever since the election of Trump, who pledged on the campaign trail to reverse the 20-year mining moratorium imposed under the Biden administration, which placed about 350 square miles of federal land — just south of the wilderness area — off-limits from mining.
“The battle is not over, but this is a significant step toward protecting the Boundary Waters from the imminent threat of the toxic, copper-nickel sulfide mine proposed by the Chilean-owned giant Antofagasta,” said Chris Knopf, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters.
“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,” said Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, who added that “the threats in Washington to our public lands are far from over.”
Mining proponents have argued that modern mining methods can protect the Boundary Waters, while also providing high-paying jobs in rural Minnesota and mining minerals needed for the clean energy transition.
Julie Lucas, executive director of the industry group MiningMinnesota, said the language removal delays actions that are needed “to ensure Americans can build and power tomorrow with responsibly mined minerals. Leaders from both sides of the aisle recognize the need to increase our domestic production of minerals, and we welcome conversations about Minnesota’s role in meeting those mineral security goals.”
U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican from the Duluth area who represents northeastern Minnesota in Congress, introduced legislation in February to permanently revoke the mining moratorium and return the leases to Twin Metals.
His bill would also limit the ability of opponents to file lawsuits to block the return of leases to Twin Metals. That language was also included in the stripped portion of the budget bill.
Smith has introduced a bill in the Senate to make the 20-year mining ban permanent. Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum of St. Paul has introduced a similar bill in the House.
