White House Executive Order Threatens The Boundary Waters & America’s Public Lands
March 24, 2025 12:45 pmOn 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.
President Donald Trump has shown us time and time again that economic development is the primary focus of his administration, regardless of the environmental cost. Through both executive and legislative means, public lands are under threat from development, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is no exception.
“President Trump’s signing of the Executive Order “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” is precisely the kind of action that we’ve come to expect from his administration. This Executive Order places public interest into private hands with all the powers of the President at their disposal under the timeless excuse of national security. This action poses a significant threat to public lands at large, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, paving yet another avenue to fast-track a copper-nickel mine at the doorstep of one of America’s most cherished wild places,” said Lukas Leaf, executive director at Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters. “Under the Defense Production Act (DPA), the likelihood of adherence to bedrock environmental law such as the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) are slim at best, and we can expect the commodification of places like the Boundary Waters to be swift, unregulated, and unpredictable, much like the current administration’s treatment of the sportsmen and sportswomen of the United States. Our Nation’s outdoor heritage, public lands, water, and wildlife are under threat now more than ever before.”
This latest Executive Order hands presidential power to private interests under the premise that it is necessary for national security, but in reality, it is an excuse to line the coffers of the few. For decades, the Boundary Waters has existed under a number of safeguards, including the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), something the Trump administration has also attempted to significantly alter, but under executive wartime powers, the attention to these types of bedrock environmental law will undoubtedly take a back-seat to development.
Does this mean we’re expecting to see a mining operation IN the Boundary Waters by the end of business this week? Absolutely not, but the Twin Metals project is proposed upstream of one of the most water-rich environments in America. As we all know, water flows downhill, and regardless of modern advances in mining technology, human error and environmental factors are anything but predictable. The hard-rock mining industry has a long-standing track record to prove this.
Now, more than ever, the Boundary Waters is under threat from development in its watershed. While it may seem like there is already plenty of attention being paid to the long-term defense of the Boundary Waters, our voices must be heard in the face of the surmounting power of the current administration. We must stand up and rally for our wild places, and we need every dollar that we can raise to amplify your voice.
Thanks to the generosity of two SFBW donors, we are currently running a matching donation campaign up to $15,000! Every dollar that you donate will be matched 1 to 1 up to $15,000. Donate today to help us continue our mission of conserving the Boundary Waters for generations of world-class fishing, hunting, paddling, and camping.
