Mining the Margins of Wilderness: an Update from the Boundary Waters

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring

Zack Williams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 877 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 106 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

BREAKING: Since this interview was recorded, a new attempt to permit a copper-nickel mine upstream of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is underway. On Monday, Jan. 12, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn) introduced HJ Res. 140, which would lift the federal moratorium on mining in the Rainy River Watershed, just upstream from the wilderness border. Tell your elected officials to vote NO on HJ Res. 140 and any similar actions taken in the Senate, and call your elected officials directly on the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a 1.1-million-acre expanse of lakes, rivers, and boreal forest—accessible only by paddle and portage—and one of the most intact wild places left in America. It's a world-class destination for fishing, hunting, camping, and solitude, but more than that, it's a place that shapes people. Generations of families, anglers, and paddlers have learned stewardship here, guided by a simple truth: some landscapes are priceless precisely because they demand restraint, responsibility, and care.

Today, that ethic is being tested. Proposed sulfide-ore mining at the doorstep of the Boundary Waters—backed by foreign mining interests and enabled by shifting federal policy—poses serious risks to a water-rich ecosystem that cannot absorb failure. This isn't just a Minnesota issue. It's a national question about how America balances resource extraction, public lands, and long-term economic reality against short-term gain. As administrations change, protections have ping-ponged, leaving this place—and others like it—perpetually on defense.

In this episode of the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast, host Hal Herring is joined by Lukas Leaf and Matthew Schultz of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters to unpack what's really at stake. From the personal experiences that bind people to the Boundary Waters to the complex web of policy, permits, and public process governing its future, this conversation makes one thing clear: after today, none of us can say we didn't know.

Tell your elected officials to vote NO on HJ Res. 140 and any similar actions taken in the Senate, and call your elected officials directly on the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

The views and opinions expressed in the Podcast & Blast are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by Silencer Central, with additional support from Decked, Dometic, and Filson.

Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists.

BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE.

Web: https://www.backcountryhunters.org

Instagram: @backcountryhunters

Facebook: @backcountryhunters

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is a 1.1 million acre wilderness area, but also it's a world-class fishing, hunting, camping, birding, hiking space, right?
0:11.9	You know, it's only accessible by canoe, interconnected, freshwater lakes, streams, rivers.
0:18.6	It's just, it's a priceless area.
0:20.5	Right. Creating American mineral dominance by having a Chilean company pull them out of the ground and then having a Chinese company process them and buying them back. That makes a lot of sense.
0:31.6	We know we're playing defense. We know what's coming. Okay, well, what exactly is happening in the background that this
0:38.6	administration is doing to ensure those decisions stick? The way America works is complicated.
0:44.3	The place we've grown up in, fishing, hunting, swimming in the river, is complicated. It's not by
0:50.2	chance. So many people nowadays seem like, we can burn it down because it doesn't work.
0:55.5	I was like, dude, what does working look like for you?
0:58.1	It's a work in progress, but damn.
1:02.0	Hey, everybody, it's Hal Herring, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers podcast and blast.
1:06.9	Thanks for being here.
1:08.7	Hey, I am proud to announce we have a new sponsor for our podcast, and that is Silencer Central.
1:15.5	If you are involved in hunting and shooting or both, you are probably looking at owning or dreaming of owning a silencer suppressor, the same thing for your firearm.
1:29.3	I've got my first one a couple years ago.
1:32.0	It's been a complete game changer for me.
1:34.9	I'm just looking at another one right now for another rifle.
1:38.9	I will never go back to where I was.
1:43.3	So one of the things, Silencer Central is, has been around since 2005, founded as South Dakota
1:52.7	Silencer.
1:54.3	And it is simply the easiest way to get a suppressor right now. It is America's number one silencer dealer. They can walk you through
2:05.9	the whole process and have a suppressor delivered directly to your door. If you've ever looked at this
	...

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