Since 2020, Congresswoman McCollum has carried the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act (H.R. 588), which would permanently protect the Boundary Waters from toxic sulfide ore mining.
Permanently protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from toxic sulfide ore mining.
Occurrences
Rep. Betty McCollum re-introduces legislation to permanently Protect Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Wilderness from sulfide-ore copper mining
condemned Senate passage of a resolution that would allow toxic mineral extraction in the BWCA headwaters
Evidence
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The Senate voted 50-49 to send Trump a resolution lifting the federal mining ban near the Boundary Waters.
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Trump lifted the federal ban and signed the resolution, clearing the way for Twin Metals to pursue permits.
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Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN, and such rule shall have no force or effect.
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Ms. McCollum introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources. The bill would withdraw approximately 225,504 acres of Federal land and waters in the Rainy River Watershed from mining and mineral leasing laws.
Assessments
The promised permanent protection was not delivered. McCollum materially attempted the outcome by introducing H.R. 588 in the 119th Congress to permanently withdraw Boundary Waters-area federal lands and waters from sulfide-ore mining, but that bill remained introduced/referred and was not enacted. During the same federal term, Congress instead enacted Public Law 119-85, nullifying the 2023 mineral withdrawal and allowing the mining ban to be lifted, directly contradicting the promised permanent protection. Because there was a serious legislative attempt that failed, the outcome is never with an effort badge.
The claimed outcome was not achieved; the available evidence shows federal action in 2026 lifting the Boundary Waters mining ban instead of permanently protecting it. There is no evidence here that McCollum herself enacted or materially advanced a permanent protection that later passed, so the promise should be judged not delivered.