RELEASE: Dangerous Congressional Review Act Resolution Passes in the House, now heads to the Senate

Jan 21, 2026

Ingrid Lyons

PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
January 21, 2026
Contact: Ingrid Lyons, 347-247-3720

RELEASE: Rep. Stauber introduces Resolution targeting Boundary Waters protections
through unprecedented use of Congressional Review Act
(Washington, DC) - A congressional plan to force a Chilean-owned copper mine into the
headwaters of the nation’s most visited and beloved Wilderness is moving forward, with
Representative Stauber introducing a Joint Resolution late Monday evening.
Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters made this statement:
“This legislative scheme to overturn protections for the Boundary Waters – protections
that are supported by science, the law, and the people - is an outrageous attack on one
of America’s most iconic and unique landscapes, and must be rejected by Congress.
Using the Congressional Review Act to attack these protections also creates a reckless
precedent that would allow Congress to retroactively target virtually any public land
action as a ‘rule.’ If this maneuver succeeds, no established land management decision
would be safe.”
In January 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration issued a Public Land Order (PLO) protecting
the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or Wilderness), Voyageurs National
Park (VNP), and 1854 Treaty Area from sulfide-ore copper mining for 20 years. The PLO, called
a mineral withdrawal, bans toxic mining on 225,504 acres of Superior National Forest land in the
watershed of the BWCAW and upstream of the Wilderness. The PLO came after the Forest
Service published a comprehensive scientific review finding that sulfide-ore copper mining
would pollute the Boundary Waters in ways that could not be fixed or mitigated.
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70 percent of Minnesotans support permanent protection of the Boundary Waters. Since 2016,
675,000 Americans have commented in favor of protecting the watershed of the Boundary
Waters from copper mining. 56% of Minnesotans in Minnesota’s Congressional District 8 (Rep.
Stauber) oppose copper mining near the Boundary Waters.
The Boundary Waters isn’t just a Minnesota issue—it’s a national one. Millions of people cherish
this place, and it supports a thriving, sustainable outdoor economy. Research shows that copper
mining here would be a net job killer, threatening up to 22,000 jobs and up to $1.6 billion in
annual regional income. A vast collection of peer-reviewed science shows that if a Twin Metals
mine was built along the rivers and streams flowing into the Wilderness, pollution and
environmental degradation would be certain. A peer-reviewed independent study from Harvard

University shows that protecting the Boundary Waters from proposed sulfide-ore mining would
result in dramatically more jobs and more income over a 20-year period.
A 2017 report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency describes the waters within the
mineral withdrawal area as “immaculate." The Report concludes that "the majority of the
waterbodies within this watershed had exceptional biological, chemical, and physical
characteristics that are worthy of additional protection.

RELEASE: Rep. Stauber introduces Resolution targeting Boundary Waters protectionsthrough unprecedented use of Congressional Review AcSTATEMENT: Dangerous Congressional Review Act Resolution Passes in the House, now heads to the Senate

(Washington, DC) - Representative Stauber’s House Joint Resolution 140 - the unprecedented Congressional Review Act (CRA) challenge to the 20-year Boundary Waters Mineral Withdrawal - has passed the House. The Resolution now heads to the Senate, where the Senate Parliamentarian is slated to make a ruling on the applicability of the CRA, and the Senate will vote. If the resolution passes in the Senate, this unprecedented use of the CRA makes any past land management decision vulnerable and paves the way for the Administration to grant federal mineral leases to Chilean-owned Twin Metals.

”Today, those who voted in favor of HJR 140 voted to sell out American public lands to foreign interests,” said Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters. “This bill sacrifices America’s most visited Wilderness for the benefit of a Chilean company that sends its concentrates to China. Now, we look to the Senate to protect the Boundary Waters, precedent, and public lands across the country.”

Paul, Peter, and Susan Schurke, owners of Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge based in Ely, Minnesota, made the following statement: “For 40 years, Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge, our family business that employs over a dozen staff, has been hosting hundreds of guests from around the world each winter to savor the serenity of the Boundary Waters by dogsled. We've fought to protect this precious lakeland wilderness. And we've made great progress towards gaining permanent Congressional protection for the headwaters of America's most popular wilderness to ensure it's never trashed by acid mine drainage.

But the bill that Rep. Peter Stauber has slipped a bill before Congress would do the exact opposite: gain PERMANENT approval for the nation's most polluting industry --copper sulfide mining-- to operate in this precious watershed. This will devastate our business and the dozens of other family-run tourism and adventure programs that have made Ely, Minnesota, a global destination for wilderness recreation.”

The CRA has never been used to challenge or overturn mineral withdrawals or Public Land Orders. Instead, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) governs them, and requires thorough and timely notice to Congress upon signature of a Mineral Withdrawal. This process was followed to the letter in 2023 when PLO 7917 was signed and put into effect.

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70 percent of Minnesotans support permanent protection of the Boundary Waters. Since 2016, 675,000 Americans have commented in favor of protecting the watershed of the Boundary Waters from copper mining. 56% of Minnesotans in Minnesota’s Congressional District 8 (Rep. Stauber) oppose copper mining near the Boundary Waters.

The Boundary Waters isn’t just a Minnesota issue—it’s a national one. Millions of people cherish this place, and it supports a thriving, sustainable outdoor economy. Research shows that copper mining here would be a net job killer, threatening up to 22,000 jobs and up to $1.6 billion in annual regional income. A vast collection of peer-reviewed science shows that if a Twin Metals mine was built along the rivers and streams flowing into the Wilderness, pollution and environmental degradation would be certain. A peer-reviewed independent study from Harvard University shows that protecting the Boundary Waters from proposed sulfide-ore mining would result in dramatically more jobs and more income over a 20-year period.

A 2017 report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency describes the waters within the mineral withdrawal area as “immaculate." The Report concludes that "the majority of the waterbodies within this watershed had exceptional biological, chemical, and physical characteristics that are worthy of additional protection."

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