Senate votes to repeal mining ban at Superior National Forest

DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) - The Senate voted to repeal a mining ban at Superior National Forest, overturning a law enacted during the Biden administration that prohibited mining for 20 years.

The bill now goes to the president’s desk for signature.

Minnesota senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar argued against passage of the bill. Smith said it would be “devastating to the wilderness.”

The ban includes 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters from mineral leasing. It was introduced by northern Minnesota Republican Congressman Pete Stauber and passed the House in January.

Stauber reacted Repeal overturns Biden-era 20-year ban on 225,000 acres near Boundary Waters to the passage saying it is “a major victory for America and for Minnesota’s families and workers.” He said never again can any Democrat president or administration unilaterally ban mining in this vital portion of the Superior National Forest, killing jobs and locking away trillions of dollars of critical minerals essential to our way of life. He said mining is the past, present and future, and the future looks bright.

Marc Fink, public lands law center director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the bill is bad for the state.

“The Senate’s decision to strip protections from the Boundary Waters is a devastating blow for everyone who loves this spectacular wilderness,” said Fink, a Duluth-based senior attorney. “Rep. Stauber will be remembered for opening the Boundary Waters watershed to the toxic mining industry. Congress has brushed aside Forest Service warnings and ignored overwhelming public support for protecting this area from copper mining. We’ll keep fighting Twin Metal’s copper mine proposal, and we won’t stop until the Boundary Waters are permanently protected from toxic mining.”

Ryan Sistad, executive director of Better in Our Backyard, agrees with Stauber. His group said the legislation will free up projects interested in investing in the area to pursue federal and state permitting processes, marking a major turning point for northern Minnesota’s economic future.

Luke Gulbranson, a hockey coach, small businessman and actor running for Congress in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District, issued a statement after Congress passed the legislation.

“I’m a proud, pro-mining Democrat but it is clear that this legislation isn’t about helping workers in Northern Minnesota. Pete Stauber is working overtime to enrich a Chilean mining conglomerate that’s going to send our precious natural resources to China. It makes no sense that we can’t keep more of our minerals and more of our energy here at home. Northern Minnesota deserves a better deal than the one Pete Stauber is offering,” Gulbranson said.

Minnesota House Speaker and Republican gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth released a statement after Klobuchar voted against the resolution.

“Today, Amy Klobuchar voted NO to repeal Democrats’ ban on safe mining in northern Minnesota, officially turning her back on job creation, economic revitalization, and American ingenuity,” Demuth said. “Minnesota can be a nationwide leader in mining, responsibly developing our God-given natural resources while creating jobs that can support families throughout the Iron Range. As governor, Iron Range communities can count on me to bring Minnesota mining roaring back, and we will see this vital regional economy rise again.”

Besides concerns about water quality, Smith said the procedure being used would set a new precedent that could impact other projects nationwide.

“Think of what this might mean, colleagues, examples of orders that could be overturned years after the fact would include fossil fuel and mining leases, permits and permitting denials, any rule or determination of any administrative law matter,” Smith said.

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