Date: February 16, 2026
Press Contacts:
Libby London, libby@savetheboundarywaters.org, (612) 227-8407
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
10:30 AM AT THE MINNESOTA CAPITOL STEPS
Save the Boundary Waters holds press conference with U.S. Senator Tina Smith ahead of unprecedented U.S. Senate vote to overturn 20-year mineral withdrawal
(St. Paul, MN) — On Wednesday, February 18 at 10:30 am Save the Boundary Waters will host a press conference featuring U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Ron Monson, National Board Chair of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, Jason Zabokrtsky, owner and operator of Ely Outfitting Company and member of the Boundary Waters Business Coalition, State Senator Steve Cwodzinski, State Representative Liish Kozlowski, and State Representative Alex Falconer, ahead of the U.S. Senate vote on HJ Res 140, which aims to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to revoke Public Land Order 7917. This Public Land Order protects over 225,000 acres of federal land in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters and Voyageur National Park from sulfide-ore copper mining for 20 years. If passed, this resolution will allow the Trump Administration to fast-track a foreign-owned sulfide-ore copper mining project that has been proven to be a raw deal for Minnesotans and Americans.
“This administration’s attacks on Minnesota continue, this time by threatening to allow copper-sulfide mining in the watershed of the Boundary Waters,” says Sen. Tina Smith. “Our public lands should not be sold off to enrich a foreign mining company. The Boundary Waters belong to every single one of us, not a foreign mining company. I’m going to fight as hard as I can to stop the Republican-led effort to overturn protections that threaten our precious Boundary Waters. I support mining, but not this mine in this place.”
U.S. Senator Smith is the author of the historic The Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection Act and Minnesota Senator Steve Cwodzinski and Minnesota Representative Alex Falconer are chief authors of the Boundary Waters Permanent Protection bill.
Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters, stated: "The Minnesotan way of life is under attack, and we must stand united to protect our public lands. The Senate’s upcoming vote will decide the fate of America’s most cherished canoe country and set a dangerous precedent for public lands across the country. HJR 140 is a blatant sellout to foreign mining interests — sacrificing America’s most-visited Wilderness and sending sulfide-ore copper concentrates to China instead of benefiting Minnesotan communities. Now the Senate must choose: protect the Boundary Waters or hand it over to foreign mining interests.”
SPEAKERS:
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U.S. Senator Tina Smith
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Ron Monson, National Board Chair, Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters
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Jason Zabokrtsky, Boundary Waters Business Coalition; Owner - Ely Outfitting Company
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Minnesota State Senator Steve Cwodzinski
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Minnesota State Representative Liish Kozslowski
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Minnesota State Representative Alex Falconer
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Moderator: Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the BWCA
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. CT, Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
WHERE: Steps of the Minnesota State Capitol
Public Land Order 7917 was signed into effect in January 2023 by the Biden Administration following a multi-year environmental review of the impacts of sulfide-ore copper mining and multiple public comment periods. These comment periods generated nearly 700,000 comments – from business owners, hunters, anglers, paddlers, youth, conservationists, and other Americans across the country – in support of the mineral withdrawal.
Here are the facts:
- Sulfide-ore copper mining would destroy far more jobs than it would create. A peer-reviewed study by Harvard University showed that mining would definitely negatively impact the regional economy.
- The outdoor recreation economy generates $13.5 billion annually for the state of Minnesota, while extractive industries (including timber, sand & gravel, and mining) generate only $1.2 billion for the state.
- If HJ Res 140 passes, the Administration would soon issue leases to a subsidiary (Twin Metals Minnesota) of the Chilean mining company, Antofagasta, who already has a track record of pollution. This foreign company already has contracts in place with no-cost, state-owned copper smelters in China.
- There has not been a single instance of a sulfide-ore copper mine operating without polluting nearby waters. Environmental Protection Agency data identifies sulfide-ore copper mining as America’s most toxic industry, and a 2016 U.S. Forest Service study concluded this kind of mining poses irreversible risks to the headwaters of the Boundary Waters.
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