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On Oct. 20, 2021, federal agencies committed to complete a study of potential impacts of sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters Watershed and paused new mineral leasing in the area while science and public input is gathered.

Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers today commended a decision by the Biden administration to protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness watershed from industrial mining. The action this morning by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior includes an application for a 20-year ban on sulfide-ore copper mining on federal public lands in the wilderness watershed. Called a mineral withdrawal, the process kicks off a comprehensive study of the potential effects of sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed.

I hadn’t seen another human being all day. Night was falling, and I was making myself a private feast. How many people in human history had felt like this? Medieval travelers… Anishinaabe traders… messengers… abandoned explorers… brigands… I’d put myself in an exclusive company.

There’s no question that I was scared. I gave myself credit for hiding it well despite the fact no one was watching. The gravel lot at the end of the Fernberg (Access 30 on Fisher Map F-31) was empty save for a navy blue Chevy S-10 and a late model Four Runner.

Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters applauds the request U.S. Sen. Tina Smith delivered to two federal agencies urging action that could lead to 20 years of protection for America’s most visited wilderness. In a letter today, Sen. Smith, D-Minn., asked the U.S. Forest Service to re-initiate an environmental review process for a 20-year ban on copper-sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters believes the withdrawal process Smith requests will protect this valuable public land and its resources from sulfide-ore copper mining for today’s hunters and anglers and future generations.

The future of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness, and Americans’ relationship to it, is in the hands of key decision-makers at the U. S. Department of Agriculture, U. S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, the United States Congress, and hunters and anglers like you and me.

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Listen to Bill Sherck of Minnesota Bound and Lukas Leaf, Executive Director of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, dig into the risky copper-nickel mining proposal upstream of the Boundary Waters.

Listen to Outdoor News Radio here This weekend’s Outdoor News Radio show kicks off with a discussion of the latest on chronic wasting disease in Pine County plus an update

Leaders in the conservation community commended the introduction of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act (H.R. 5598), bipartisan legislation that would provide permanent protection, for current and future generations, of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected public lands and waters located within the watershed.