What’s the latest with the Boundary Waters?
Read our series breaking down the threats facing this iconic Wilderness.

Hi John, 

We’re just past the halfway mark of the new administration’s first 100 days, and from day one, dismantling protections for the Boundary Waters has been a top priority. Anti-Wilderness forces in D.C. are moving fast to sell off the Boundary Waters — but we’re tracking every move to make sure nothing slips through.

The latest: This is the third email in our series exploring why the Boundary Waters is so special and why it urgently needs protection. This week, we’re exposing the key players behind the attacks on America’s favorite Wilderness — and the corruption fueling their efforts.

Whose who in the escalating rush to ruin the Boundary Waters?

1. Antofagasta — The foreign mining giant with a terrible track record

The Chilean mining conglomerate behind Twin Metals Minnesota, pushing to open a toxic sulfide-ore copper mine next to the Boundary Waters.

It has a history of pollution and corruption, for example:

• Antofagasta's mine in Chile cut off the flow of the nearby waterway, robbing a town of fresh water and endangering the residents. Even after villagers won a lawsuit against the company and the Chilean Supreme Court ordered the removal of the mining dam, Antofagasta used its power to defeat the villagers and keep its controversial mining dam in place — cutting off the water from the people.¹
  
  
• Antofagasta has been implicated in a number of bribery and corruption scandals.²
  
  
• They’ve spent over $1 million lobbying Congress to secure mining leases, prioritizing profits over pristine waters.

2. The Trump Administration — Targeting the Boundary Waters

• Last year Trump promised to strip protections for the Boundary Waters within his "first ten minutes in office."
  
  
• Trump targeted the Boundary Waters in his first term:
  • The Administration reinstated old mineral leases and issued unlawful mineral leases to Twin Metals and short-circuited environmental review.
  • Tried to rig the process to ram through mineral leases for a billionaire Chilean mining boss who is also Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s landlord.³
    
    
• In recent years, Antofagasta’s Twin Metals Minnesota continued to use Trump’s former Interior Secretary’s lobbying firm.

3. Rep. Pete Stauber — Working against the will of his constituents

U.S. Congressman from northeastern Minnesota who is staunchly in the new Administration’s camp.

• Rep. Stauber and Trump share in their desire to see the Boundary Waters destroyed in the name of profits for a foreign mining conglomerate.
  
  
• Rep. Stauber is fast-tracking the Twin Metals mining project. Pushing legislation to reverse protections for the Boundary Waters, force lease renewals, and strip away the ability of courts to review these actions.
  
  
• Despite the majority of his constituents supporting permanent protections, he remains aligned with foreign mining interests.

Why does this matter?

These anti-Wilderness proponents are working against what the majority of what people want. 

Building a copper mine next to the Boundary Waters is extremely unpopular.

So why is this unpopular and risky project even still on the table? Corruption and greed are keeping it alive.

But we’re not standing for it. The Boundary Waters belongs to all of us, and we’re fighting to keep it wild forever. But we can’t do it alone.

Stay with us in the fight: Make a gift today to help us protect the Boundary Waters and stop these attacks before it’s too late.

Together, we can save America’s favorite Wilderness forever.

^{1 Brook, J. (2021, August 30). In foothills of Chilean Andes, a mining dam set off a years-long battle with residents. Miami Herald.}

² Reuters (2015, February 10). Chilean president’s family caught up in loan scandal. Reuters.com. 

³ Grimaldi, James (2017, December 22). Trump Administration to Grant Mining Leases That Will Benefit Landlord of President’s Daughter Ivanka Trump. The Wall Street Journal.