After Trump’s win, mining near BWCAW back in play – by Jimmy Lovrien (Duluth News Tribune – November 11, 2024)

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

In July, President-elect Trump vowed to reverse Biden’s mineral withdrawal on 225,000 acres of federal land in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in “about 10 minutes.”

ELY — President-elect Donald Trump has promised to reverse the Biden administration’s 20-year mining ban on federal land within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, bolstering the hopes of copper-nickel mining industry supporters but worrying environmentalists who fear pollution to the downstream wilderness area.

The mineral withdrawal, which bans mining on 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest until 2043, and non-renewal of key federal mineral leases to Twin Metals’ proposed copper-nickel mine effectively killed the company’s plan to build an underground mine and tailings-storage facility processing plant along Birch Lake, which flows into the BWCAW via the Kawishiwi River.

At a July 27 rally in St. Cloud, Trump said he’d reverse the withdrawal in “about 10 minutes.” “Tonight, I pledge to Minnesota miners that when I am reelected, I will reverse the Biden-Harris attack on your way of life, and we will turn the Iron Range into a mineral powerhouse like never before,” he said.

For the rest of this article: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/after-trumps-win-mining-near-bwcaw-watershed-back-in-play