VIRGINIA — Minnesota Republicans voiced their opposition to Gov. Tim Walz’s executive order blocking mining efforts near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness at a press conference Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Nine state officials and local mayors spoke alongside Congressman Pete Stauber of Hermantown, expressing frustration with the executive order, which Walz signed on Tuesday. The order blocks nonferrous mining in the Rainy River Headwaters watershed, a region that includes the Boundary Waters. Nonferrous mining is mining for any minerals or metals aside from iron, like copper and nickel.
Congress rolled back protections for the region earlier this year in an effort spearheaded by Stauber. Since then, companies like Twin Metals have eyed projects in the watershed but are now barred from working with the Department of Natural Resources to obtain permits.
Stauber said the action was a gross government overstep.
“What happened to the process?” he asked. “... We have a rigorous permitting and a rigorous state process before any mining happens, and that executive order crushed all of that. It threw it out the window.”
The event took place at the Laurentian Divide Geological Marker, a roadside marker about 4 miles north of Virginia.
The location is consequential — all waters flowing north of the divide pass into the Arctic Ocean and belong to the same watershed at the Boundary Waters. Proponents of the executive action say the whole region needs protection.
For Stauber, the order was an “attack” on the Iron Range way of life.
“Minnesota has been mining for 146 years,” he said. “We know how to do it. Our union workers know how to do it. And we can lead not only the United States, but we can lead the world in mining.”
Throughout the event, connections to the region took center stage, with speakers reiterating the cultural and economic importance of mining on the range.
State Sen. Rob Farnsworth of Hibbing spoke about his father’s job in the mining industry. He said Minnesotans need to put their trust in state environmental and labor mining standards.
“We know that Iron Range families need these jobs,” he said, “so that they can stay and live and raise their family in the same place that we all want to raise our family.”
Some state officials pointed to their tour of Eagle Mine earlier this year. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the underground copper-nickel mine was touted by several speakers as an example of an ideal mining situation. It is the only mine of its kind in the U.S.
Republican State Rep. Roger Skraba of Ely was among the visitors to Eagle Mine.
“My eyes were opened,” he said. “There is absolutely no reason we can't mine safely anywhere in the world. What I saw, what they did there, we can do here.”
In her remarks, Babbitt Mayor Andrea Zupancich discussed the Boundary Waters’ prominent tourism industry. She argued that seasonal tourism in Northern Minnesota could be volatile and pointed to mining as a steadier industry, citing recent wildfires as an example. Zupancich is also running as the Republican challenger to state Sen. Grant Hauschild, a DFLer who condemned Walz’s order.
“We don't have 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a week tourism,” she said. “It's very cyclical. It's very weather driven. But during those fires, I can tell you right now, those miners were working every single day.”
The future of the executive order — and the watershed — likely lies in the hands of the next Minnesota governor, who will be elected Nov. 3.
Stauber said Republican candidate Lisa Demuth has promised to repeal the order. He said he hoped DFL candidate Amy Klobuchar would listen to area voices on the matter.
Regardless, Stauber vowed that the order would not prevent mining indefinitely.
“Mining is our past, our present and our future,” he said. “And our future is very, very bright.”
Without further action, the order will expire 90 days after Walz leaves office in January.
