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What's next after BWCA protections are revoked?
FOX 9's Leon Purvis explains what happens now after the Senate passed a bill to revoke mining protections for the Boundary Waters.
(FOX 9) - President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill approved by Congress that could potentially pave the way for mining projects just south of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA).
Trump revokes BWCA mining ban
What we know:
On April 16, 2026, the Senate approved a bill by a 50-49 vote that could potentially pave the way for mining just south of the BWCA. The measure previously passed the House of Representatives on Jan. 21, by a 214-208 vote.
On April 27, President Trump signed H.J. Res. 140 into law, which revokes Public Land Order (PLO) 7917 – signed on January 2023 by President Joe Biden, the order withdrew approximately 225,504 acres of National Forest System lands in Cook, Lake, and St. Louis counties from mineral and geothermal leasing for 20 years.
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Senate overturns mining ban near BWCA despite Tina Smith's protest
Despite a protest by Sen. Tina Smith the night before that delayed the vote, U.S. Senators have approved a bill to allow mining in Minnesota's Boundary Waters watershed. FOX 9's Tim Blotz has the story.
The backstory:
The thousands of acres of federal land located in the Superior National Forest were previously protected by a 20-year mining moratorium instituted by the Biden administration.
The decision issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2023 limited a significant portion of one of the largest undeveloped deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt and other metals in the world.
In its wake, the decision dealt a blow to the Twin Metals mine near Ely, Minnesota, and other potential mines within the watershed of the BWCA.
Twin Metals had previously proposed a $1.7 billion underground copper-nickel mine near Ely, just south of the Boundary Waters, before the Biden administration canceled two federal mineral leases held by the company along Birch Lake in the Superior National Forest.
The leases are required to mine the underground metals, which once mined, are critical for the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and other tech commonly used today.
The other side:
Although the bill does not specifically mention or approve of any mining project, opponents say that overturning the federal withdrawal could reopen a path for proposals and approvals.
During a Senate hearing, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith held the floor in protest of the proposal, ultimately delaying the vote.
The Source: Information provided by a press release from the White House and previous FOX 9 reporting.