On January 21st, the United States House of Representatives voted 214 – 208 to pass H.J. Res. 140, introduced by Representative Pete Stauber (MN-08). This comes after nearly a week of diligent work from Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters and a coalition of conservation organizations working around the clock to prevent its passage. 

This legislation paves the way for the administration to return leases to Twin Metals, where they hope to extract critical minerals outside the most-visited Wilderness Area in the country, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). Though proponents of the resolution claim this mine will decrease the United States reliance on foreign nations for critical minerals, the reality is that Twin Metals is owned by a Chilean company that will ship the minerals to China for processing, where they will be made available on the open market. 

Using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to undo a public land order or withdrawal is an unprecedented move that has never been used in this fashion. This could very easily set a dangerous precedent for using CRAs to undo existing Public Land Orders around the country. 

But the fight isn’t over. We must continue to keep the pressure on and let our Senators know that it’s HANDS OFF the Boundary Waters, and to vote no on this resolution as it moves to the Senate for consideration.