I have been canoeing in the Boundary Waters every summer for the majority of my life, and despite my dislike for bugs and insects, I think of the lakes in the region as my home away from home. It’s pristine, gorgeous and scenic; my experiences in the area, starting with my first five-day canoe trip, have essentially shaped who I am today.
I could not imagine my life without the BWCA, yet open-pit copper and nickel mines proposed by out-of-state mining companies like PolyMet threaten this beloved area. The proposed sulfide mining could release sulfuric acid into the region, which would harm the area’s water quality and ecosystem health.
This mining threatens to take the BWCA away from everyone who has been shaped by their time in the area and from everyone who is hoping to visit the Boundary Waters in the future.
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Mining and the Boundary Waters
The Polymet project drains south, posing a threat to the St Louis River and Lake Superior, not to the Boundary Waters. The Twin Metals project is a potential threat to the Boundary Waters, which is why it needs the kind of careful regulation Minnesota can provide.