PROTECT the Boundary Waters BWCAW! YES to HR 588 (IH) NO to HR 978

Our unspoiled wilderness areas are one of the most precious and sacred legacies. We hold them in trust for future generations. Please do all you can to legislate protection for these areas. Imagine the shame if your grandchildren and great grandchildren cannot enjoy the splendor of that unspoiled wilderness, and the joy of canoeing there? Imagine what they will think if they know that you failed to protect it or allowed our shared heritage to be polluted and ruined for short term gain and private profiteering. Today I am writing to you about the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I am counting on you to protect and preserve this magnificent area. Please vote YES for H.R. 588 (IH) - Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act This act will provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal lands and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and for other purposes If it comes for a vote in the House, please support the Thye-Blatnik Amendment. It would provide a significant and stable source of funding for the Boundary Waters counties—Lake, St. Louis, and Cook—& ensure financial support for key community projects like road maintenance and public services. This Amendment passed in the U.S. Senate last year but stalled in the House. For generations the Thye-Blatnik Act has provided essential funding to counties impacted by federal land ownership in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. But outdated appraisal methods threaten to shortchange these communities, depriving them of much-needed resources. I also ask you to Vote NO on HR 978. This bill would have catastrophic effects on one of the most precious areas of America's wilderness, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. HR 978 doesn't just undo the 20 year ban on mining in the BWCA watershed and give Twin Metals their leases to undertake toxic copper mining. It also prohibits judicial review. I am counting on you to serve your constituents and to look after some of our most awe inspiring and beautiful areas of wilderness. We hold these in trust as stewards. Honor that stewardship.