The Minnesota Takes Action tour, hosted by Save the Boundary Waters, took place last weekend, featuring a breakfast that included fresh fruit, cinnamon rolls, and coffee from Loon’s Nest Coffee. Community members and other Minnesotans, some traveling as far as Virginia and Stillwater, gathered at the Cook County YMCA to receive the latest updates and learn about the most effective ways to take action on both the state and federal levels to keep the Boundary Waters protected from copper and nickel mining. 

With the state of Minnesota generating $13.5 billion from outdoor recreation alone, event organizers emphasized the importance of considering the potential consequences of copper and nickel mining on outdoor recreation revenue, which is crucial for tourism, rural economies, and conservation funding.

 Pickett signs were available to show solidarity for protecting the Boundary Waters.

The Save the Boundary Waters organization was founded in Ely, Minnesota, in September 2013, to specifically address the threat posed by Twin Metals, a Chilean mining company, which still actively seeks to mine copper-nickel five miles from the BWCWA in the Rainy River Watershed. According to organizers, Save the Boundary Waters is often referred to as an “anti-mining organization,” but they have stated that their fight is against sulfide-ore copper mining, which pollutes the Boundary Waters. 

In June of this year, the US Senate removed language from President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful [budget] Bill” that would have granted permission to Twin Metals to build a copper-nickel sulfide mine along the edge of the BWCAW in Minnesota. The language would have also limited judicial review of the mine's construction. Upon review by Senators, it was determined that the provision did not follow the rules for the budget reconciliation process, which states that provisions must be budgetary in nature rather than policy-oriented. 

However, a day later, the Trump administration announced plans to initiate the process of reversing the Biden administration's 20-year mineral withdrawal in the Superior National Forest, enacted in 2023. 

At the time, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that the United States Department of Agriculture is "proud to announce that we are initiating the process to cancel the mineral withdrawal in the Rainey River watershed on the Superior National Forest. After careful review, including extensive public input, the US Forest Service has enough information to know the withdrawal was never needed." 

U.S. Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) publicly supported this action, advocating for increased domestic mineral extraction. In a June 2025 press release, he stated, “This announcement is great news for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, and the nation. Former President Biden’s illegal decision to lock away these resources and throw away the key was not only harmful to my constituents, but it was harmful to this nation as it further cemented our reliance on Communist China for the critical minerals on which we all rely."

During the Minnesota Takes Action event this past weekend, three speakers shared why they believe protecting the Boundary Waters and the heritage of outdoor recreation is so essential. 

 Ben Seaton, from Hungry Jack Outfitters, had the floor first to share his experience and concerns with the community.

Ben Seaton, whose family owns Hungry Jack Outfitters, shared his experience working on the outskirts of the Boundary Waters. He shared that he has been touched the most by the people who love the Boundary Waters. He has guided people from all over the world to enjoy these waters, as they can’t find a place like this anywhere else. He has also seen families come year after year.

 M. Baxley, from Bear Witness Media, spoke during the Grand Marais Takes Action event Saturday morning.

M. Baxley of Bear Witness Media, WTIP, and Paddle and Portage shared their story of working various jobs across Cook County. Baxley shared how they have seen the Boundary Waters and surrounding area bring in so many people from all walks of life who love outdoor recreation. M. has found a passion in exploring that love along the North Shore in many forms throughout the years, and in a variety of different roles. Baxley, along with Seaton, shared that they believe people are the heart of the Boundary Waters, and that a lack of water policies is not sustainable for the outdoor recreational heritage that thrives and connects people with these public lands.         

Baxley summed it up by saying, “I think it is the relationships, a shared love for this place, for the land, a sense of belonging on the land, and with the fire that to me is the most important reason to have it here. That's the glue that keeps us together, without our public lands, without the spaces where we go to seek refuge. I think we lose the glue that holds us together.” 

 Ingrid Lyons shares her passion for protecting the Boundary Waters at the Cook County YMCA.

Ingrid Lyons, the executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, took the floor next and shared her story of how she came to love and vow to protect the BWCAW. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and began visiting Ely when she was 4 years old with her dad, who was raised in Minnesota. Her family enjoyed being able to get away from city life and decided to try living off-grid. After that, they never stopped coming, and her family got a spot off Echo Trail on Big Lake, which shaped her lifelong environmental values. Ingrid started working at Save The Boundary Waters ten years ago as the northeast mutual organizer and executive director in the spring of 2022.

Lyons has spent every month for the past 11-12 years traveling to and from DC, advocating for the protection of the Boundary Waters on the federal level.  

She shared that “copper mining has never been done in our state before, and while we have a very proud iron mining legacy in our state, copper mining is a piece that we have not yet contended with, and that is notably different from a pollution standpoint than iron mining.”

She added that looking at other places where this mining has been conducted, “including the Arab desert and the southwest United States (where it's most commonly done in our country), it has polluted water.”   

The Save the Boundary Waters team has been lobbying alongside their parent organization, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness, in Washington, D.C., to protect these beloved wilderness areas. Their dedicated work has been demonstrated by the shifting of federal policy.

• 2016 – then-President Obama: Began 20-year mineral withdrawal study → paused new mining leases.

• 2018 – then President Trump: Reversed withdrawal, reopened federal leases near BWCAW.

• 2022 –  then President Biden: Reinstated 20-year mining ban in the Rainy River Headwaters.

• 2023–2025 –  Lawsuits and political pushes (including under the current administration) to reopen lands to mining and rescind the 20-year mining ban. 

This photo shows the federal and state-owned land that surrounds the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, protected lands, and the proposed Twin Metals copper mining sites near Ely.  

Event speakers shared that state policies serve as an important backstop in protecting the Boundary Waters. Any mining project would require a state permit, with a review process that must be approved by both the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. 

Alongside environmental concerns, many communities and residents in the Boundary Waters, such as those in Grand Marais, which rely heavily on the area for outdoor recreation, fear that they will struggle economically and could lose a part of their identity and population.  

 Singer Britt Malec led the group in a song to highlight the importance of love and advocacy for the Boundary Waters water policies.

The event ended with Britt Malec encouraging the audience to use their voices (metaphorically and physically) with a call-and-response song.

Event attendees were then encouraged to use their voices to contact state and federal lawmakers to share their thoughts on what they’d like to see happen with the BWCAW.