(Ely, MN)-- "Boundary Waters Traverse," the film chronicling Save the Boundary Waters' Campaign Manager Alex Falconer's 110 mile run to raise awareness of the risk from sulfide-ore copper mining to the Wilderness has won two Webby Awards, both from the Academy and People's Voice, in the environmental category. This is the 26th annual Webby Award. Falconer ran both the Kekekabic and Border Route trails, about 40 hours of running, without stopping to camp to raise awareness about the threat to the Boundary Waters most imminently by Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta's Twin Metals project. Antofagasta is proposing to build a massive sulfide-ore copper mine on the doorstep of the Boundary Waters, along lakes and streams that flow directly into the Wilderness. It was the first known time anyone has ever run both trails together without stopping.
"I ran 110 miles through the Boundary Waters for the first known time as a way to bring the issue of sulfide-ore mining's threat to the Boundary Waters to a new audience of runners and trail runners," said Falconer. "Winning these two Webby Awards brings the issue to an international stage through video and story telling. The time is now to protect this pristine Wilderness for all generations to come and hope our lawmakers will take steps to permanently protect the Boundary Waters. I'm thankful for everyone who voted for the Boundary Waters Traverse film and to the Webby's for their vote and support of this film."
With more than 14,000 entries from all 50 states and over 70 countries, and nearly 2 million votes cast during the People's Voice, this year's Webby Awards is the biggest in their history. On Monday May 16th 2022 you will be able to view the whole award ceremony at the WEBBYAWARDS.COM starting @7PM or you can follow the highlights on Instagram/Twitter through the #WEBBYS.
The Boundary Waters is the most heavily visited wilderness area in the United States, attracting more than 160,000 visitors from all over the world and helps drive more than $900 million in annual economic activity and helps support over 17,000 jobs. A peer-reviewed independent study from Harvard University showed that protecting the Boundary Waters from a proposed Twin Metals sulfide-ore copper mine would result in dramatically more jobs and more income over a 20-year period.
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