President Trump has worked aggressively to dismantle the environmental legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama since taking office in 2017. The latest example is a mining project that could affect the most heavily visited wilderness area in the United States: the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which stretches over a million acres in the Superior National Forest in remote northern Minnesota.
This bucket-list destination for paddling, fishing and camping contains more than 1,200 miles of canoe routes among thousands of lakes and streams, drawing some 250,000 visitors yearly. Just to its southwest are large metal deposits – part of Minnesota’s Iron Ranges, which have been a major mining region since the mid-1800s.
For over a decade a company called Twin Metals has been seeking permission to build and run an underground copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum mine there. Opponents, including local residents, conservation groups and outdoor businesses, argue that this operation could release toxic contaminants that would wash into the Boundary Waters and adjoining parks, poisoning wildlife and contaminating soils.
A proposed mine threatens Minnesota's Boundary Waters, the most popular wilderness in the US
This bucket-list destination for paddling, fishing and camping contains more than 1,200 miles of canoe routes among thousands of lakes and streams, drawing some 250,000 visitors yearly. Just to its southwest are large metal deposits – part of Minnesota’s Iron Ranges, which have been a major mining region since the mid-1800s.
For over a decade a company called Twin Metals has been seeking permission to build and run an underground copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum mine there. Opponents, including local residents, conservation groups and outdoor businesses, argue that this operation could release toxic contaminants that would wash into the Boundary Waters and adjoining parks, poisoning wildlife and contaminating soils.
A proposed mine threatens Minnesota's Boundary Waters, the most popular wilderness in the US
