Vote No on HR 978 to Protect Boundary Waters from Mining

I urge you to vote no on HR 978, legislation that would open over 225,000 acres of forest near the Boundary Waters to copper sulfide mining. This bill undermines fundamental environmental protections and strips the Forest Service of its authority to manage our federal lands responsibly. The Boundary Waters is America's most visited wilderness area with more than 1 million acres of uncut forest and thousands of pristine streams, rivers, and lakes. This irreplaceable landscape serves both as critical wildlife habitat and as an economic engine for communities that depend on recreation and tourism. The proposed, highly-toxic, copper sulfide mining operations authorized under HR 978 would degrade water quality, destroy wildlife habitat, and eliminate the wilderness character that makes this area nationally significant. HR 978 sets a dangerous precedent by removing land management decisions from the Forest Service, the agency with expertise and legal responsibility for protecting our public lands. This bill circumvents that expertise to favor a single extractive industry at the expense of recreation, conservation, and clean water. The Boundary Waters deserves permanent protection, not industrial exploitation. I ask you to stand with outdoor enthusiasts, conservationists, and communities who value the Boundary Waters by voting no on HR 978. Protect the Forest Service's authority to manage our public lands and preserve this irreplaceable wilderness for current and future generations.