Dear John,

Today, the state recognized our tireless water quality monitoring work, which shed light on a popular Boundary Waters-edge lake whose pollution has been ignored – until now.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has included Birch Lake, immediately upstream of the Boundary Waters, on its draft Impaired Waters list as impaired for sulfate. This is a significant step in the process of protecting Canoe Country permanently from toxic mining because it makes it more difficult for dangerous mining projects to be permitted in the future. 

It is the work of Save the Boundary Waters that has gotten us to this moment - approximately 90% of the water quality data on Birch Lake was collected by our team. We couldn’t have gotten here without supporters like you. 

Not familiar with our water quality monitoring program? We’ve been working quietly for the past four years, intensively monitoring the waters of Birch Lake for sulfate. Thanks to the good work of Water Quality Monitoring Program Manager Lisa Pugh, our data was deemed the most high-quality sulfate data for Birch Lake in the State of Minnesota’s possession. We have a small but mighty team of two staff members conducting professional-level scientific research.

Why does this matter? Because sulfate pollution changes the ecology of lakes and streams and can be toxic to wild rice, which grows abundantly in Birch Lake. Rush a 2X gift to protect Minnesota’s wild rice >>

How our high-quality science program is changing the future of the clean water of the Boundary Waters watershed:

Birch Lake is now on its way to being on the final impaired waters list, which means that the machinery of the Clean Water Act will begin to turn, requiring the cleanup of the mining pollution still being dumped into the lake.

We are focused on protecting the watershed of the Boundary Waters permanently. If Birch Lake’s listing is finalized by the EPA, the Clean Water Act will be triggered, and it will be more difficult for dangerous mining projects to be permitted in the future. 

Here’s where you can help:

• Many of our monitoring locations are remote and logistically and physically difficult to access. It takes an immense amount of organization and coordination to execute this work to a high standard.
  
  
• Lab fees for sample analysis are costly and add up. Sophisticated sampling equipment is expensive and requires maintenance and upgrading.
  
  
• To have our data validated and accepted by agencies, we need better equipment and increased capacity. 
  
  
• This is just the beginning of Save the Boundary Waters’ water quality program’s role in aiding permanent protection of the Boundary Waters. Help us expand this work. 

Support the cutting-edge scientific work of Save the Boundary Waters by making a financial gift during Minnesota’s largest giving holiday. Rush a 2X gift right now >>

P.S. Make a matched gift for Give to the Max Day right now to support our science program.

You are receiving this e-mail because you have supported the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters - a project of Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness.

Save the Boundary Waters
P.O. Box 625
Ely, MN 55731
United States

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