Walz Halts Mining Permits Near Boundary Waters After Congress Overturned 20-Year Ban
Updated
Updated · KSTP · Aug 18
Walz Halts Mining Permits Near Boundary Waters After Congress Overturned 20-Year Ban
3 articles · Updated · KSTP · Aug 18
Summary
Tim Walz ordered Minnesota agencies to stop issuing certain mining leases and permits in the Rainy River Headwaters Watershed and review all existing mining leases there.
The executive action came four months after Congress narrowly overturned a 20-year federal mining ban near the Boundary Waters, reviving copper and nickel mining proposals.
Walz also directed the Department of Natural Resources to avoid joining the federal environmental review as a cooperating agency and to draft legislation for a permanent nonferrous mining ban.
MiningMinnesota and Republican lawmakers blasted the move as legally weak and harmful to Iron Range jobs, while Democratic supporters said it protects a key Minnesota wilderness area.