The Interior Department announced it will withdraw acreage in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota from new mining, cutting off the mineral-rich area from future development and likely killing a major mining project in the works.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland signed an order withdrawing approximately 225,504 acres in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota from consideration for leasing, precluding new mineral development in the area. The forest is home to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a popular destination for hikers and campers that is the only lake-land wilderness in the National Wilderness Preservation System, according to Interior.
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“The Department of the Interior takes seriously our obligations to steward public lands and waters on behalf of all Americans,” Haaland said. “Protecting a place like Boundary Waters is key to supporting the health of the watershed and its surrounding wildlife, upholding our Tribal trust and treaty responsibilities, and boosting the local recreation economy.”
It’s another setback for the Twin Metals mine, a major project planned in the area for mining nickel and other critical minerals.
Interior announced plans in October 2021 that it would consider a 20-year mineral leasing withdrawal in the area, and it later withdrew federal mineral leases underpinning the Twin Metals project.
Environmental groups and some Democrats sought an end to the project, arguing that waste runoff from the mine would tarnish the pristine Boundary Waters.
Republicans have criticized the administration for thwarting the project and said it conflicts with President Joe Biden’s green energy agenda. Technologies including electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines require minerals such as the nickel and copper that Twin Metals seeks to exploit.
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Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), who represents the area including the Boundary Waters, said the department’s order is “an attack on our way of life.”
“The only winner here is China as Joe Biden continues to hand our foreign adversaries every advantage possible,” Stauber said, referring to the Chinese dominance of the green energy technology supply chain.
