Mr. President,
Congratulations on your return to the presidency. Winning a second national election requires stamina, determination, and a connection with the American people. Those qualities are clear.
I am writing to offer an idea that may not have reached your desk yet. It is an opportunity to protect one of America’s greatest natural treasures while creating jobs, tourism, and a legacy project that Americans of every political background could support.
The place is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota – one of Minnesota’s greatest natural treasures and one of the most pristine freshwater wilderness areas in the United States.
For many families across Minnesota, including my own, the Boundary Waters is more than a place on a map. It is where we learn to paddle, fish, camp, and experience true wilderness firsthand. Millions of Americans have camped, paddled, fished, and learned to love the outdoors there. It is not only a wilderness area. It is part of our history.
Today the land near its edge is being considered for a proposed foreign owned mining project that supporters say could bring jobs and critical precious metals, but that critics warn its unnecessary, there are alternatives and the environmental risk is too dangerous. Policymakers in Washington are currently considering whether mining should move forward in the watershed that drains into the Boundary Waters.
America will need critical minerals such as copper and nickel to compete in advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and tech infrastructure. Securing those materials is an important national priority. The key point is not that mining is unnecessary. It is that this is the wrong place to do it. Copper sulfide mining is particularly risky in a water-rich wilderness watershed like the Boundary Waters because the region contains thousands of interconnected lakes and groundwater flows easily between them. Acid mine drainage from sulfide ores can contaminate water for centuries. Once pollution enters that system, it is extremely difficult or impossible to contain.
Many experts consider sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters one of the highest-risk mining scenarios in North America.
There is another path.
Protecting the Boundary Waters does not mean abandoning America’s need for critical minerals. It means choosing the right places to develop them. The United States can expand mineral recycling, recover metals from existing waste streams and electronics, and prioritize mining in locations that do not sit upstream of one of the most pristine freshwater ecosystems in the country.
Instead of opening the door to a foreign owned mining project, imagine the creation of Trump’s Great American Wilderness Area, a landmark outdoor destination that protects one of America’s most precious wilderness landscapes while generating long term jobs, tourism, and economic opportunity, and establishing a lasting presidential legacy rooted in the protection of American land.
A destination that celebrates America’s outdoors AND creates job’s while protecting the Boundary Waters for future generations.
Picture families traveling from across the country to visit Trump’s Great American Wilderness Area to paddle, hike, fish, and explore one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. A world class destination to experience America’s finest wilderness firsthand.
This could include:
Lodges and cabins built with American materials and labor
Outdoor education programs for families and veterans
Guided canoe trips into the Boundary Waters
Fishing, hunting, hiking, and wildlife programs
A national destination that celebrates America’s public lands and outdoor history.
Instead of a short term extraction project, this would create long term economic vitality through tourism, hospitality, and outdoor recreation.
Outdoor recreation already generates hundreds of billions of dollars annually in the United States. The Boundary Waters region could become one of the crown jewels of that economy.
More importantly, it would protect a landscape that cannot be replaced once damaged.
Presidents are remembered for moments when they place the needs of average americans above political pressure and choose the long view. Theodore Roosevelt protected millions of acres of American land. Those decisions are still celebrated more than a century later.
The available data suggests that mining near the Boundary Waters is broadly unpopular with the public, and the opposition often crosses political lines. Many voters who support mining in general still oppose it specifically near the Boundary Waters.
You have the opportunity to make a decision that Americans will remember in the same way. Our sons, daughters and grandchildren. Hunters and fishers. Outdoorspeople. Caretakes of this great country.
Protect the Boundary Waters.
Create a destination that celebrates American wilderness.
And give future generations the chance to experience one of the most beautiful places in our country.
Respectfully,
Nate
Founder, Abode Outside
Minnesota