BREAKING!! The Boundary Waters Needed A Hero - Thank God For Tim Walz!

This morning, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order directing state agencies to stop issuing permits and conducting environmental reviews required by state law for the highly controversial Twin Metals mining project in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. Walz further directed the cessation of cooperation with federal agencies that, at the behest of almost all Republicans in Congress, President Trump, and the wealthy Chilean billionaire bribing them all, were moving as fast as possible to industrialize the most visited wilderness area in America.

This morning, Walz stood up to all these powerful forces in this country and courageously said, “Hell no.” Well, actually, this is exactly what he said:

“The Boundary Waters is a national treasure and home to some of Minnesota’s most pristine waters and wilderness. This place is deeply personal to me, to Minnesotans, and to people across the country who have paddled these waters. I am using my full executive authority to protect the waters and wildlife of the Boundary Waters and to ensure the outfitters, small businesses, and communities that depend on it continue to thrive for generations to come. It’s our duty as Minnesotans to ensure the sacred place remains wild, pristine, and unharmed.”1

Walz’s order is a delay, a wrench in the works, but it’s not a ban:

While this has been reported as a “ban” on mining around the boundary waters, that’s not exactly true. This does not “stop” mining in the region or stop this particular mine from going forward at some future date. It does, however, throw a major wrench in the works for a process that, by law, must obtain state permits even if the mine is planned and approved on federal USFS property.

Walz can do this because in states with federally managed public lands, both the federal and state governments play a role in industrial development. In MN, here is a listing of the regulatory and permitting tools available to the state Division of Natural Resources or DNR, which means this is a listing of the potential wrenches that Gov Walz just tossed into the Republican plan to poison the boundary waters:

1. The DNR is the primary regulator for mining in the state. Even with federal leases restored, a mine cannot be built without state permits. The DNR must issue a “Permit to Mine,” which must show that a mine can:

• prevent water pollution

• safely store tailings

• reclaim the site after mining

• and protect nearby ecosystems.

If the DNR determines the project poses unacceptable environmental risks, it can deny the permit outright.

2. Minnesota also requires extensive environmental review for large mining projects.

• An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process evaluates water pollution risks, tailings dam safety, cumulative impacts to the watershed, and alternatives to the project.

• The DNR controls this process and can determine that the project does not meet environmental standards. In 2022, the state actually halted environmental review for the Twin Metals project after federal leases were canceled.

Additional State Permits and approvals also come from state agencies such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and include water discharge permits, wetlands permits, dam safety permits, and air permits.

If any one of these is denied, a mine cannot proceed.

As a reminder, 100% of copper mines pollute.

Additionally, Twin Metals Minnesota holds 50-year state mineral leases that the Minnesota DNR can cancel during the 21st or 36th year. One such lease is eligible for cancellation by early June of this year — however, its location is outside the priority deposit areas Twin Metals intends to develop in the near term, meaning cancellation would not halt the mine’s progress.2

The top-down rush to mine in places like the Boundary Waters is all part of the national Republican effort to steal what is yours. That’s because mining on federal land is governed by the 1872 mining law, which literally gives these minerals to huge mining corporations for … wait for it… FREE. That’s right: these mines pay zero royalties to the people of this nation for what they take from our land, a truism that must seem too good to be true for MAGA. That’s why such greedy, powerful people are rushing to crank up the bulldozers.

As a refresher on how deep and pervasive the corruption driving this particular Boundary Waters/Twin Metals mining project is, this is an excerpt from an earlier article I wrote detailing the motivation behind this corruption:3

Industrial Mining That Will Pollute The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) - America’s Most Visited Wilderness

How it happened: This story centers on Chilean-owned Twin Metals Mining, its billionaire owner and CEO Andronico Luksic, and his multi-year effort to overturn the nearly 30-year prohibition on mining around the BWCA. This story takes shape in early 2017, just as Trump’s first administration was ramping up.

Just before Donald Trump took his first oath of office that year, Luksic, who controlled the huge international mining conglomerate that owned a controversial and therefore useless mining lease on protected public land bordering the BWCA, rightly sensed that the new administration could be bought and that his mining lease asset could become much more valuable.

In January of that year, Luksic, the man who would eventually spend millions “lobbying” to reverse the mining ban in Minnesota, added a seemingly unrelated asset to his books: a highly sought-after $5.5 million home in D.C. Within days, he also signed a sweet little “rental” agreement at that very address for two very specific tenants: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.¹ And so began a burgeoning relationship of corruption, payoffs, and exploding personal wealth at the expense of the BWCA.

The only hiccup in his plan happened when the Biden administration successfully blocked that mine and stalled the corruption for four years, but after Trump’s 2024 win, the corruption game was back on. By then, Kushner had enlisted others to help, like former Trump Interior officials Ryan Zinke and David Bernhardt, both of whom played pivotal roles in what was to follow.

In April of this year, nine years after that first sweetheart Javanka D.C. lease, it all paid off when the House of Representatives and Senate finally caved to Kushner and Trump’s pressure, approving the mine on a contentious, nearly entirely party-line votes. Twin Metals’ value subsequently increased 1688%, from less than $151 million in 2019 to more than $2.7 billion today.

And that ain’t the only thing that increased, Republican corruption has also been on a rocket ship the past few years, and so it’s reasonable to expect that Kushner’s initial rental payoff has grown into a lucrative criminal enterprise, including crypto for Trump, God-knows-what for his bumbling sons, and payoffs for buffoons like Zinke (whose officially-reported personal wealth has multiplied by nearly 20x since he first entered office). They all did it for the same reasons: to make a couple of bucks by polluting the sacred wild landscape where children learn to fish, and more than 20% of the freshwater in all wilderness areas is found.

Verdict on Why They Are Doing It: Corruption, bribery, and corporate greed

This morning’s ballsy move by Walz is rare, even surprising. The truth is that the state permitting process on almost all projects like this is a foregone conclusion. They are almost always issued because the companies always promise to do things perfectly.

Our modern politics is so wantonly devoid of people like Walz and moments like this. We just don’t often get to witness an elected leader saying yes to common people, to our public lands, and NO to the bullshit of big corp empty promises and NO bullies like Trump. Saying NO to international billionaires. Saying NO to political pressures, to backroom bribes, cushy retirement gigs arranged by greasy payoffs and stock tips. (looking at you Ryan Zinke!)

I’ve been lucky enough to know Gov. Walz. He led the Democratic Governors Association when I ran for Gov here in Montana. He’s a person without much of a filter. I was quickly impressed by his obvious devotion to doing the right thing. He’s not wealthy and is not bothered by that fact. His commitment to public service is obvious. He’s a former schoolteacher who doesn’t seem motivated by money at all. His geeky fascination with saving money on obscure car parts is a well-known, endearing part of him.4 He governs and speaks from the heart. And that’s a damn rare thing these days.

People who care about this country, about our great public lands which we all own collectively, about wild places, fresh water, and native species have reason to celebrate because of what Walz did this morning.

The fight over the Boundary Waters is not over. If MN doesn’t keep electing people like him, we may someday lose the fight.

But today, it’s not too much to say “Hooray for the Boundary Waters and Thank God for Tim Walz!”

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There’s no denying the Trump administration and its army of House and Senate Republican lackies are at full-on war with our public lands, wildlife, and bedrock environmental laws. In just 18 months, they have wrought unimaginable damage, including, but not limited to, forcing a huge industrial mine in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area, gutting the End…