State and congressional Republican leadership gathered north of Virginia Wednesday morning to rally against Governor Tim Walz’s new executive order, which bans mining in the Rainy River Headwaters watershed.
“Minnesota has been mining for 146 years. We know how to do it,” said Minnesota Congressional District-08 Congressman Pete Stauber. “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.”
Stauber pointed to the state’s rigorous permitting process and environmental standards, which he and other state legislators reiterated are among the best in the world for mining operations.
“I want to be crystal clear. There will be no mining in the Boundary Waters, and there will be no mining in the buffer zone surrounding the Boundary Waters,” Stauber said.
The 1978 Wilderness Act prevents mining operations within this area. The buffer zone encompasses 220,000 acres north of the Fernberg Corridor and north of Burntside and Shagawa Lakes.
State District 3A Rep. Roger Skraba (R-Ely) and others pointed to the Eagle Mine on Michigan’s upper peninsula as an example of a copper-nickel mine operating in accordance with modern environmental standards.
“What they did there, we can do here,” Skraba said.
“We need to persevere. This is a bump in the road,” Skraba added. “After the election, we’ll have a governor that will hopefully support our cause.”
Skraba also pointed to the irony that Walz supporters have shown when they hold up “No Kings” at political events.
“When you see those people standing on the corner with those signs that say No Kings, what he did yesterday is what kings do. That is wrong. What he did was wrong,” said Skraba.
Stauber called the Walz administration’s move an attack on the Iron Range, union workers, students and the local economy.
Minnesota’s mining industry contributes to public school funding through avenues like the School Trust Fund land system, which funnels industrial revenue on these lands into the state’s Permanent School Fund.
Mining operations contribute to 90% of the education revenue generated on those lands. To date, those ventures primarily represent iron ore and taconite mining, as nonferrous mineral production has not yet expanded beyond the exploration lease phase on school trust properties.
BabbittmayorAndreaZupancich said the recent wildfires have proven that a local economy reliant only on tourism can be sensitive to seasonal and natural disruptions.
“We don’t have 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week tourism. It’s very cyclical. It’s very weather-driven,” Zupancich said. “But during those fires, the miners are working every single day.”
State District 7A Rep. Spencer Igo (R-Grand Rapids) expressed concern that the executive order would push copper-nickel interests out of the state and into corners of the world with less stringent labor and environmental standards.
“We want to show the world how to do it right,” Igo said.
Minnesota’s next governor will largely determine the future of the Rainy River Headwaters mining ban. She will have the power to retract or reinstate the executive order.
Republican candidate Lisa Demuth said she opposes Walz’s executive order.
DFL candidate Amy Klobuchar said she supports mining in general, though she has indicated concern about projects so near to the Boundary Waters. She has not taken a stance strictly in favor or against the Twin Metals proposal.
