Previous generations protected the Boundary Waters for us. We must do the same.

By Theodore Roosevelt IV 

Guest contributor to the Minnesota Star Tribune

For more than a century, millions of Americans have paddled, fished, camped, dogsledded and hiked the forests and glacial lakes of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, revering it as one of the most iconic public lands in this country. This boreal landscape embodies the very best of our nation — offering refuge for veterans, adventure for outdoorsmen, and a launchpad for the next generation of American leaders who have wisely taken action to protect this special place, beginning with President Theodore Roosevelt (TR). 

TR believed in action — especially when it came to protecting America’s natural heritage. One of his most enduring legacies was preserving America’s greatest wild terrains. He helped define America’s conservation stewardship ethic by protecting more than 160 million acres of public land that Americans treasure to this day, including in Minnesota. 

TR loved Minnesota and its great wild lands. In 1880, TR’s first extended hunting trip to the West brought him as far as the Red River in Moorhead, Minnesota. In 1900, he launched his vice presidential campaign in Minnesota, and in 1901, he gave his famous “Big Stick” speech at the Minnesota State Fair. In 1909, for “the public good,” TR formally established the Superior National Forest in Minnesota, which contains the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 

More than a decade ago, I had the good fortune to visit the Boundary Waters. I do not have the words to adequately describe the incredible beauty or the sense of peaceful solitude I felt there. When Congress relentlessly pushed to overturn hard-fought federal protections for the Boundary Waters by reviving the possibility of a sulfide-ore copper mine in the headwaters of the wilderness earlier this year, my family (all four of us direct descendants of TR) wrote to Republican senators to urge them to vote against allowing mining upstream from the Boundary Waters. TR would have strongly opposed the proposal for toxic copper mining in this landscape. 

Unfortunately, Congress didn’t listen to us, or decades of scientific research, or overwhelming public support, or treaty rights. Congress and the president chose to sell out this irreplaceable American treasure, the Boundary Waters, and open the way to a Chilean mining giant, Antofagasta. The minerals would likely be processed at Chinese state-owned smelters at no cost, benefiting the Chinese economy rather than the United States. 

This was a devastating blow to me, my family and all Americans who value public lands. 

Advertisement

But this summer, Minnesota issued an executive order that halts copper mining projects in the watershed and directs the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to draft a bill to submit to the Minnesota Legislature to permanently prohibit sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed. 

This action reflects the conservation ethic TR championed: imploring Americans to “cherish” the nation’s “natural wonders” as a “sacred heritage for your children and your children’s children.” This ethic became one of the great enduring legacies of his life. 

America’s public lands — all 640 million acres — were protected for our enjoyment and benefit by TR and prior generations. Today we are the stewards of these lands; it is now our duty and responsibility to preserve our nation’s public lands for future generations. 

We are faced with the most devastating assault on these lands in the history of our nation. 

Across the political spectrum, 70 percent of Minnesotans support permanent protection of the Boundary Waters watershed from sulfide-ore copper mining. As TR did, Minnesotans value public lands, sustaining local economies, and protecting a place that belongs to every Minnesotan and every American. 

September 26 was National Public Lands Day — a day to honor the landscapes that have been bequeathed to all of us. The Boundary Waters is the crown jewel of Minnesota’s public lands and a defining part of our natural heritage. Minnesota lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, please heed the call: The Boundary Waters watershed deserves permanent protection. 

Theodore Roosevelt IV is a conservationist and great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. He is a member of the board for The Wilderness Society and an investment banker in New York.