Trump’s Executive Order puts the Boundary Waters at immediate risk
STATEMENT: Trump’s Executive Order puts the Boundary Waters at immediate risk
March 21, 2025
Contact: Libby London, 612-227-8407
(Ely, MN) – Late yesterday afternoon, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” which puts America’s public lands, including protected, special places, at immediate risk of development from mining. The Order fast-tracks domestic mining on federal lands, citing that mining should be the primary purpose of these lands. The Order also significantly broadens the list of “critical minerals” and enacts the Cold War-era Defense Production Act (DPA) which would subsidize companies that already mine hardrock minerals without paying royalties.
“Under the guise of national security, the Trump Administration has taken its next step toward dismantling vital protections for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and its watershed. By taking the extreme step of weaponizing Cold War-era powers to prioritize mining on all public lands – which includes federally designated Wilderness Areas, national forests, national parks, wildlife refuges, and more – the administration has thoroughly demonstrated its commitment to sacrificing America’s public lands for corporate gain,” said Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters. “Research has shown time and time again that the economic and ecological benefits of protecting the Wilderness far outweigh those that would come from copper mining development in the area. This Executive Order threatens all of America’s iconic landscapes - including the Boundary Waters - removing public lands from the hands of the American people, where they belong. We continue to track this and the several other pathways this Administration is using to undermine science, the law, and the will of the people on the issue of protecting the Boundary Waters – America’s favorite and now most threatened Wilderness area.”