Person with camera on misty lake

the Media Room

February 22, 2021

Focusing on the environmental threat, the campaign is highlighting the overwhelming science outlining the risks to the Wilderness from copper mining and the people whose lives will be impacted

February 16, 2021

"100 days to Save the Boundary Waters," is a multi-week campaign to demonstrate to policymakers the overwhelming support to permanently protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness from the threat of sulfide-ore copper mining.

February 8, 2021

Conservation groups challenging the Trump Administration’s 2019 decision to renew two hardrock mining leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota today filed a motion asking the court to include documents that were wrongly excluded from the case record by the Trump Justice Department.

February 8, 2021

Boundary Waters Permanent Protection Bill (S.F. 763/H.F. 840) extends the existing permanent state ban on mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) to also prohibit both sulfide-ore copper mining and issuance of sulfide-ore copper mining permits, licenses, and leases on state-owned land within the BWCAW’s watershed.

February 3, 2021

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (MN04) sent a letter to President Biden asking that his administration take action to protect Minnesota's Boundary Waters Wilderness from sulfide-ore copper mining. Rep. McCollum's letter recounts the extreme political interference by the Trump administration in fast-tracking highly risky mining next to America's most visited Wilderness.

February 1, 2021

The Star Tribune published an editorial urging the Biden-Harris administration to renew the push to protect Minnesota's Boundary Waters, America's most visited Wilderness.

January 27, 2021

Preserving Minnesota's Boundary Waters Wilderness is key to solving the climate and extinction crisis

January 19, 2021

Last week US. Rep. Betty McCollum, state legislators, and the campaign to Save the Boundary Waters held a press conference outlining the path to permanent protection for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Feb 6, 2023
Duluth News Tribune

The administration is bringing back an Obama-era decision, later reversed by Trump, that bans new mineral leases on 225,500 acres of the Superior National Forest for the next two decades...

Feb 6, 2023
Star Tribune

The move follows a study that concluded mining could damage the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness; Twin Metals mine had been slated for the area.  The Biden administration has withdrawn some 225,000 acres of national forest land in northern Minnesota from mineral leasing, protecting a swath of the watershed that adjoins the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness...

 

Feb 6, 2023
Reuters

Ernest Scheyder |1/26/23

Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday blocked mining in part of northeast Minnesota for 20 years, the latest blow to Antofagasta Plc's (ANTO.L) Twin Metals copper and nickel mining project but a step officials said is needed to protect the state's vast network of interconnected waterways...

 

Feb 6, 2023
The Washington Post

Timothy Puko | 1/26/23

The move comes as the administration faces a string of tough decisions on federal conservation for spots in Alaska and Nevada

Jan 31, 2023
MinnPost

Saying the steps the Biden administration took to bar mining in the Superior National Forest are not permanent, Rep. Betty McCollum on Tuesday reintroduced a bill that would offer permanent protections...

Jan 30, 2023
Mankato Free Press

After many years of efforts to protect the area next to the BWCA, the Biden administration last week moved to protect federal land in the Superior National Forest from mining.

Jan 28, 2023
Star Tribune Editorial Board

Anyone who's ever marveled at Yellowstone's mysterious geysers or stood in awe before other parks' magnificent vistas owes a debt to previous generations. These moments are possible because those who came before recognized that there were special places that needed to remain unspoiled despite the need for timber, minerals and other resources to power a young, industrializing nation...

 

Jan 26, 2023
MPR News

The U.S. Department of the Interior issued a 20-year mining moratorium Thursday on 225,000 acres of federal land near the Boundary Waters, dealing a further blow to the proposed Twin Metals mine near Ely, Minn. and other potential mines for copper, nickel and precious metals within the watershed of the canoe wilderness area.

Jan 26, 2023
Bloomberg Law

The Interior Department withdrew more than 225,000 acres of federal lands from mineral and geothermal leasing in Minnesota for the next 20 years to protect a beloved wilderness area...

Jan 26, 2023
Bring Me the News

The Biden administration on Thursday issued a 20-year moratorium on mining in a 225,504-acre area of land near Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) order will close roughly 350 square miles of the Superior National Forest and the Rainy River Watershed near Ely to mineral and geothermal leasing for 20 years — the longest amount of time it can issue the moratorium without congressional approval....

VIDEOS & WEBINARS

(Scroll down for webinars)

Short video celebrating the life of Former Vice President Walter Mondale, who fought fervently to protect Minnesota’s Boundary Waters from toxic mining. 

Watch the entire "Boundary Waters Traverse" film! On May 22, 2021 Alex Falconer ran over 110 miles in 38 hrs 15 mins and 3 seconds, through the heart of the Boundary Waters completing the first known attempt to trail run the "Boundary Waters Traverse”.

Patagonia's feature-length film - Public Trust. The film focuses on the Boundary Waters and other high-profile, threatened public lands across the United States.

In Deep Water: A Fight to Save the Boundary Waters, we produced a mini-documentary to educate new audiences on the threat of sulfide-ore copper mining on the edge of the Boundary Waters.

Kids for the Boundary Waters is an organization run by youth with the goal of building a community of young wilderness advocates.

KEEN Story Camp was an event that included a public open-mic session on the edge of the Wilderness, where attendees canoed the lakes during the day and told stories around the fire at night.

A stunning short film that follows Dave and Amy Freeman's year spent in the Boundary Waters Wilderness. Bear Witness shares Dave and Amy's experiences in all seasons and how the Freemans dedicated themselves to this expedition in an effort to raise awareness about the threats to the Boundary Waters from proposed sulfide-ore copper mining. 

A stunning short film that follows Dave and Amy Freeman's year spent in the Boundary Waters Wilderness. Bear Witness shares Dave and Amy's experiences in all seasons and how the Freemans dedicated themselves to this expedition in an effort to raise awareness about the threats to the Boundary Waters from proposed sulfide-ore copper mining. 

Covering 2,000 miles and crossing nine states, authors and National Geographic Adventurers of the Year Amy and Dave Freeman are biking from Ely, Minnesota, to Washington D.C. this spring to promote their new book, A Year in the Wilderness, and continue their efforts to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, one of our country’s most precious and expansive Wilderness areas.

A short documentary film centered around protecting the Boundary Waters. The film's focus is on the people who help spread appreciation for the land and carry on, in their own individual ways, the legacy of Sigurd Olson, a writer and conservationist who was responsible for the area's National Forest designation in 1978.

Follow and Subscribe to our video channels: YouTube & Vimeo

WEBINARS

Lease Cancelation Webinar - 1/27/22

Save the Boundary Waters Press Conference: Lease Cancelation - 1/26/2022

Issue 101 and the Path to Permanent Protection for the Boundary Waters - 9/3/2021

Fishing Webinar 5/5/2021

Saving the Boundary Waters: Stories About Runners and Kids Working to Protect America’s Most Visited Wilderness - June 2021

Bios for Press Use

Save The Boundary Waters welcomes media inquiries; email Libby@savetheboundarywaters.org