Updates

Like a lot of Montanans, I measure decisions about public lands through hard-earned experience, not political talking points. I’ve spent most of my adult life in Montana. I’ve built my career here and raised my family here. But I grew up in northern Minnesota, just west of the Boundary Waters. As a kid, I fished for walleye on Birch Lake, southwest of the Wilderness boundary, and I remember the signs posted at the landing: Don’t eat the fish. Mercury levels too high. Those warnings weren’t theoretical. They were the result of mining waste that found its way into the water. Back then we were told “the solution to pollution is dilution.” Time proved otherwise.

On November 6th, 2025, Franconia Minerals LLC submitted an exploration plan to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for review to conduct exploratory boring on state lands near Birch Lake, upstream from Ely, Minnesota and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  Barring any unusual circumstances, Franconia will likely get permission from the MN DNR to continue exploring as they’ve done in the area for several years. While exploratory boring itself does not pose a significant threat to the environment and is a routine practice in the mining industry, Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters remains prepared to oppose the creation and operation of a copper-nickel mine upstream from the Boundary Waters. The following is a basic breakdown of what we presently know about Franconia Minerals LLC and exploratory boring. 

In his latest attempt to sow chaos amongst public land advocates across the United States, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced legislation that would not only alter over 9.5 million acres of Wilderness in U.S. Borderlands if passed, but would also fundamentally change the Wilderness Act and its ability to protect wild places like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from development. This comes months after Senator Lee introduced legislation that would permanently sell off millions of acres of public lands in the western United States.

The Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Kate McGregor, has reinstated a legal opinion from 2017 with a key interpretation that will have a significant impact on Twin Metal’s plan to mine for non-ferrous minerals in the Rainy River Watershed. 

Details on the current threats, both legislative and administrative, to Boundary Waters protections. Stay tuned for more details and actions as these threats to the BWCA progress.

On March 20th, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Executive Order “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.” This EO invokes wartime powers for the president and a number of federal agency secretaries to identify significant mineral deposits on federal lands and, through federal funding and private industry input, designate mineral production as the official use of those federal public lands. This is an immediate threat to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and federal public lands at large. This action must be monitored very closely in the coming weeks and months to defend the places we cherish the most.

The latest information on Twin Metals at the federal and state levels and actions you can take to defend the BWCA.  Since 1964, The Boundary Waters has been a federally designated Wilderness Area. In 1978, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area & Wilderness Act expanded the wilderness to the nearly 1.1 million acres that it is today. This designation has prevented development in this pristine expanse of interconnected lakes and streams, as well as set forth rules and regulations that control recreational use practices, adding to the region's Wilderness character.

On January 21st, 2025, Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) reintroduced legislation to permanently protect the Boundary Waters from copper-nickel mining in the 119th Congress, with support from a broad coalition of conservation groups. We appreciate Representative McCollum’s steadfast leadership in authoring BWCA protection legislation and stand ready to advocate for the legislation’s advancement throughout each hearing, markup, and as the bill progresses through Congress. Rep. McCollum’s bill would create permanent protection for the Boundary Waters from any future sulfide-ore copper mining mineral leasing in the Rainy River Watershed of the Superior National Forest while exempting sand, gravel, granite, iron ore, and taconite mining. The bill would also allow continued use of the Superior National Forest for ongoing mining and logging operations. These are critical distinctions for the Iron Range of Northern Minnesota.

Grouse season is upon us! The leaves are starting to change, the evenings are getting cooler, and there are grouse around every corner in the Northwoods. Here at Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, we live for this time of year. Among the myriad of tasks that go into working on behalf of the Boundary Waters region, nothing keeps the fire burning like a limit of birds, fellowship with old and new friends, and feasting on wild game.

Looking to the future, SFBW has a few more tasks on the Pine Island WMA. This winter will tell the tale of how much work we’ll need to do in the Spring. First, we need to understand how well the trees we planted will fare between wildlife browsing and tough conditions. We fully intend to plant as many supplemental trees as necessary in the Spring.