Hi all and apologies for any cross posting, 

3 things I would like to highlight
- 1) Mountain Journal article (details below and attached) interviewing our National Chair, Becky Rom, about the mining threat near the Boundary Waters, her history working to Save the Boundary Waters from the 1964 Wilderness Act to today, and how we're in a position to win again thanks to our national coalition built up and working to protect this special place.
- 2) Biden's Administrative 20 year mineral withdrawal update and ask for help soliciting comments (toolkit linked here)
- 3) the State of Minnesota's Minnesota Environmental Rights Act comment period and ask for help soliciting comments (toolkit linked here)

Thank you all, have a great thanksgiving weekend and please let me know if you need any other information on these items or would like help in participating in the comment periods!

Alex Falconer
Campaign Manager, Save the Boundary Waters


Mountain Journal Interview with Becky Rom, National Chair for the Campaign to Save the BWCA:
I just wanted to quick highlight this article and interview of Becky Rom that came out recently in the Mountain Journal (attached also as a pdf).

There’s a cardinal rule borne of historic environmental disasters. It’s informed by broken promises and a kind of short-sightedness that often prevailed over worries about long-term consequences. The insight is that it’s never wise to site a hardrock mine close to valuable bodies of water.

The article-interview's opening paragraph above in particular broad strokes sums up our entire campaign, and the rest of the article digs in to how the Campaign has been a national coalition from the very beginning to protect a federal Wilderness - one that just so happens to be America's most visited (and I would say "popular"!) Wilderness. Becky did a wonderful job describing why it was important that we model the case for Boundary Waters preservation as a national effort to protect a specific special place of significant cultural and ecological value. The article digs back into her history working with her dad and Sigrid Olson for the 1964 Wilderness Act to today's threat, how we modeled our Campaign off the Greater Yellowstone Coalition's (and others) successes and why we are now on the path to achieving the next set of protections for the Boundary Waters. 

Comment period update and ask for help soliciting comments:
Last a quick update on the comment periods. We're currently in the midst of 2 comment periods and encouraging everyone to add their voice to the process. 
- The state of Minnesota's MERA comment period regarding the siting of sulfide-ore copper mining in the watershed of the Boundary Waters (more detailed info linked) has generated thousands of Minnesotans weighing in and we have 2 weeks yet to go. 
- The federal BLM/USFS comment period regarding the environmental study stemming from the Biden Administrative 20 year withdrawal application (more detailed info linked) extends into mid January and we are working across the country as well as Minnesota to make sure Americans from every corner of the country are able to add their voice.

  • tool kit for Minnesota MERA comments 
  • tool kit for Federal comments

    • If your organization is able to help generate comments for either of these comments, I have provided two toolkits below for both social media amplification as well as draft email language, etc. 

    I am of course happy to take any questions regarding the above.

    Have a great Thanksgiving week,
    Alex

    --
    Alex Falconer
    Campaign Manager
    Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters
    M: 612-419-3423