A worthy political legacy: permanent Boundary Waters protections

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Let’s not sugarcoat the immediate prospects of a historic new bill — one introduced by Minnesota U.S. Sen. Tina Smith on Wednesday — to permanently protect the state’s beloved Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from copper mining pollution.

During his first term in office, President Donald Trump’s administration employed dubious legal maneuvers to assist a Chilean mining conglomerate’s effort to open the Twin Metals copper mine on a site near the BWCAW.

Helping Twin Metals’ Chilean billionaire owners looks to be a priority again during his second term. Late last month, Trump issued an executive order to increase American mineral production and identify regulatory bottlenecks. The president’s mining-friendly political party also controls both chambers of the U.S. Congress.

These realities create hurricane-force headwinds for Smith’s new bill, the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection Act. But introducing it, even if it doesn’t deliver immediate results, is still a noble and necessary effort.

In doing so, Smith joins forces with another member of the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Betty McCollum, to enact permanent safeguards against mining pollution for the BWCAW watershed. McCollum, a Democrat, has previously introduced similar legislation in the U.S. House.

Their legislation sends a powerful message. U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents northeast Minnesota in the U.S. House, is one of the copper mining industry’s most vocal congressional allies, and is working energetically to undo mining protections in place for the BWCAW watershed. The legislation championed by Smith and McCollum strongly signals that Stauber’s “Mine, Baby, Mine” philosophy does not represent all Minnesotans.

Smith’s legislation, the first BWCAW protection bill in the U.S. Senate in nearly five decades, is also a clear call to action, not only to other members of Congress but for all who care about the fate of this beloved but fragile watery wilderness.

“Sometimes it takes a long time to get the right thing done,” Smith said in an interview Tuesday. ”This is going to require some patience, some resilience and determination. I don’t think [the bill] is just symbolic. But it is a symbol of how much people care about this place.”

Smith is not new to the long-simmering fight over the controversial push by Chilean conglomerate Antofagasta to open the Twin Metals copper mine. The mine represents a new type of mining to Minnesota and poses different pollution risks than taconite mining, an industry far more familiar to the state.

While there are other proposed mines hoping to tap northeast Minnesota deposits of copper and other metals, the Twin Metals location is particularly problematic, as a 2019 Star Tribune Editorial Board special report argued.

The site does not lie within the BWCAW itself but would be within the watershed draining into the protected wilderness. Adding to concerns: The underground project would be perched near the shoreline of a river that drains into the BWCAW, whose waters are so pristine that they lack the minerals and other natural safeguards that could help neutralize potential pollutants. This is a greatly heightened concern given that the copper mining industry globally has an abysmal environmental record.

During the Biden administration, Smith worked diligently to ensure that a study of mining’s risks to the BWCAW watershed would be completed after the Trump administration halted it. Once that study detailed the risks of copper mining within the watershed, Smith continued working with the Biden administration to put a 20-year moratorium on mineral leasing on about 225,000 acres of federally owned land within the BWCAW watershed, effectively banning copper mining during this period.

The Smith bill would make that protection permanent, ensuring that the BWCAW remains pristine for future generations. With Smith deciding not to seek re-election in 2026, it’s clear she is thinking about her political legacy. Protecting this wilderness is an appropriate priority.

“It’s a national treasure on par with the great places in this country, like the Grand Canyon,” she said. ”It still has that sense of being truly away from the hustle and bustle.”

Like many Minnesotans, Smith considers trips to the BWCAW a treasured family tradition. Her husband, who grew up in Ohio, visited it regularly as a child. The couple continued going there after they had their own children. “Our kids spent many, many happy summers there,” she said.

During her long career in politics, Smith has traveled the country and found many others, including those who don’t call Minnesota home, who have visited the BWCAW and continue to come back. There are so many people who “have a soft spot in their hearts” for it and understand deeply the responsibility of preserving the environmental treasure for generations yet to come, she said.

Smith acknowledges that there are differences of opinion about copper mining and said she “has a lot of respect for people on both sides of the issue.” While there are many passionate BWCAW protectors across the state, there are others who see this new but risky mining as economic salvation for the Iron Range, a region that has long endured the cyclical ups and downs of taconite mining.

Smith is quick to point out what her legislation would not do. In a news release, her office made clear that the bill “would not ban or otherwise restrict existing or potential mining projects in Minnesota outside the withdrawal area in the Rainy River Watershed. It would not affect any of the taconite mines in Minnesota.”

More specifically, Smith’s bill would not affect several other proposed copper mines in the state: New Range (previously known as PolyMet) and Tamarack, which is a joint venture between Talon Metals and Rio Tinto.

The Smith legislation strikes a sensible balance on economic potential vs. mining pollution risks. Her bill would impact Twin Metals, which arguably has the riskiest location of any proposed copper mine in the state, but not these other projects. This careful balance also allows for Minnesota to contribute to the global need for copper and other metals vital to new technology, particularly renewable energy.

“I’m not opposed to all mining. I’m just opposed to this mine in this place,” she said, referring to the Twin Metals project.

In introducing the bill, Smith admirably follows in the footsteps of another Minnesota politician: Walter Mondale, who was a formidable wilderness advocate both in and out of office. Standing up for the BWCAW, at a time when it’s under significant threat, and inspiring others to do so is a commendable way to spend her remaining time in office.