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Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection Act
To protect, for current and future generations, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal land and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill withdraws approximately 225,504 acres of Federal land and waters in the Rainy River Watershed of Minnesota's Superior National Forest from public land entry, mining, and mineral leasing. The withdrawal prevents location, entry, and patent under mining laws, and prohibits operation of mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws in the area. The Forest Service Chief may permit removal of sand, gravel, granite, iron ore, and taconite if determined not to be detrimental to water quality, air quality, and forest habitat. The bill protects the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Voyageurs National Park, and related Federal lands and waters in the watershed. Maps showing the withdrawn area shall be kept on file and made available for public inspection by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN)
1 cosponsor
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT)
Actions (2)
- Apr 9, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. · senate
- Apr 9, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 9, 2025
Ms. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To protect, for current and future generations, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal land and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection Act”.
SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND AND WATERS IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.
(a) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Map.—The term “Map” means the map attached to Public Land Order No. 7917 (88 Fed. Reg. 6308 (January 31, 2023)).
(2) Boundary.—The term “Boundary” means the boundary labeled “Withdrawal Application Boundary” in the legend of the figure entitled “Withdrawal application area” and identified as figure 1, as included in the environmental assessment prepared by the Forest Service entitled “Rainy River Withdrawal Environmental Assessment” and dated June 2022.
(b) Withdrawal.—Except as provided in subsection (c), subject to valid existing rights, the approximately 225,504 acres of Federal land and waters in the Rainy River Watershed of the Superior National Forest in the State of Minnesota, as depicted on the Map (including any land or waters or interest in land or waters that are acquired by the United States after the date of enactment of this Act within the Boundary), are withdrawn from—
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws;
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
(c) Removal of Sand, Gravel, Granite, Iron Ore, and Taconite.—The Chief of the Forest Service may permit the removal of sand, gravel, granite, iron ore, and taconite from National Forest System land within the area withdrawn under subsection (b) if the Chief of the Forest Service determines that the removal is not detrimental to the water quality, air quality, and health of the forest habitat within the Rainy River Watershed.
(d) Availability of Map and Figure.—The Map and the figure depicting the Boundary shall be kept on file and made available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. <all>
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