Earth Day Rally at Minnesota State Capitol Focuses on Mining and Potential Impact on Freshwater Resources

The Senate overturned a mining ban near the Boundary Waters. What happens next?

Last week, the U.S. Senate overturned a 20-year federal mining ban on land near the Boundary Waters. Coming up at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about what the change means and what happens next.

Earth Day rally at Minnesota State Capitol focuses on mining and potential impact on freshwater resources

Hundreds of environmental advocates and tribal leaders rallied at the state capitol to speak out against copper-nickel mining.

Hundreds rally on Earth Day against mining projects that pose risks to Minnesota waters

Angered by last week’s Congressional vote to overturn a federal mining ban near the Boundary Waters, hundreds of Minnesotans flooded the state Capitol on Earth Day to rally in support of clean water and ask the state to block several proposed projects.   Mining in Minnesota is at a crossroads, and environmental groups are concerned about risks to pristine watersheds from proposed sulfide mining projects aiming to extract minerals like copper and…

Congress betrayed the Boundary Waters. Time for Minnesota to act.

Minnesotans can make a powerful statement by passing an amendment to the state Constitution to enshrine such a prohibition.

Don’t give up the fight – for the Boundary Waters and the future of the planet — this Earth Day

A camp site on Fairy Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in July 2025 (Ruth Conniff/Wisconsin Examiner)The darkened sky in the early afternoon, the tornado sirens wailing as baseball-sized hail shattered windows and dented car roofs, sounding like a series of explosions as drivers hurried home at 4 p.m. last week — all of it felt like the eerie first scene in an apocalyptic movie.  This is not a drill, I thought, watching the cloud…

Minnesota water is at risk as mining expands

In Minnesota, water connects us all. It runs through small-town taps, wild rice beds, trout streams, and the quiet inlets of the Boundary Waters. It links the Iron Range to Duluth and Lake Superior, the St. Croix to the Mississippi, and everyone who calls this state home. Water sustains us — and right now, it needs our protection. That’s why organizations across Minnesota have come together to speak with a shared voice about what’s at stake. Min…