At the risk of sounding political, the Trump administration is circumventing the EPA and courts to approve mining leases on public land bordering BWCA. This is despite all the scientific studies, public outcry, court orders and due processes to the contrary. He is making public input possible only over the holidays before ramming these leases through a purely cosmetic approval process. If you’re on this board, you need to step up to protect this rare gem. The type of mines being forced on the public are not only foreign owned, but have NEVER been operated and closed without an ecological disaster.
This is not a political issue. The political and environmental periods have been performed and Trump is using his power to override guidelines and processes that have already happened. Please don’t make this a political discussion. Even if I whole heartedly agreed with the economic arguments for allowing the BWCA to be eventually ruined, I would not want our legal and democratic processes to be discarded, overridden on a whim.
To make your voice heard, please refer to the Save the Boundary Waters website where you’ll find a link to submit your comments for public input savetheboundarywaters.org
I am a retired environmental consultant. I have worked on countless mining projects all over the West and Alaska. Under normal circumstances we can trust the environmental review process which operates principally under the National Environmental Policy Act. (NEPA). Under the Trump Admin. everything is in a state of flux and seems subject to political pressure from industry.
There are provisions for public input in the NEPA process. Make your voice heard. Get rid of Trump and I believe this project goes away.
With all my heart I do sincerely hope you are correct in this. But one year later I fear that while we’ve been forced to give undue attention to the daily show, termites have been quietly and unobtrusively gnawing away at the timbers that have been so laboriously constructed for so long in many of the agencies (and not just those involving environmental practices/conservation) that we’ve come to take for granted (because they work fairly well - if not perfectly) and which, I fear, may now be reduced to near ineffectuality. I hope I’m wrong. I believe the Enlightenment has made the world a better place, but I fear this has more to do with cultural revolution (that worked so well for China) than it does with repairing a house divided.
I wonder how many of even us, who do appreciate the BWCA, think often of what was once accomplished by the lifelong efforts of the likes of Ernest Oberholtzer* and so many others…
At best, when this is all over there will be a LOT of reconstructive work to do in many agencies. Perhaps it can be done better the second time around but, make no mistake, it will be a lot of hard work. Apolitical work.
*general recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Keeper-Wild-Life-Ernest-Oberholtzer/dp/0873514092
We have the strongest environmental laws in the history of Mankind. Trump and his cronies have manipulated the system, but I believe his days are numbered. We made it through James Watt and we will make it through the trump admin.