In Minnesota, hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreationists are blessed with access to abundant public lands, waters, wilderness, and state and national parks. Throughout the state, from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to the Driftless area of Southeast Minnesota to Blue Mounds State Park, there is a place for you to get your kids into the great outdoors. Minnesotans rightfully take pride in these traditions.

We must protect the Boundary Waters from proposed sulfide-ore copper mining in its watershed. Unlike Minnesota’s iron and taconite mines, regionally untested copper-nickel mining threatens our hunting and fishing traditions. Boosters of the proposed Twin Metals project at the headwaters of the BWCA tout Minnesota’s world-class environmental regulations as if they will protect our water from this disastrous type of mining.

If there is anything that 2020 has shown, it is that we should not take what we have for granted. Minnesota has fantastic fishing and hunting, a direct product of our decisions to maintain a balance between natural resource development and conservation of those resources. Our leaders and elected officials must enact a conservation ethic, or the balance will be tipped too far to the side of development. This fall, make no mistake that these priorities are on the ballot.

Public lands belong to all Americans, and we must protect them to ensure that our future generations may experience them as we have. Our priceless backcountry spaces, like the Boundary Waters, are no exception. It’s time for a change.

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