On November 28 the U.S. House of Representatives passed U.S. Rep Rick Nolan’s bill, H.R. 3115, the Superior National Forest Land Exchange Act, which finalizes a long-awaited land exchange in northern Minnesota between the U.S. Forest Service and PolyMet Mining.
The exchange – approved earlier this year by the Obama Administration’s U.S. Forest Service after undergoing seven years of scrupulous review – is key to advancing PolyMet’s long-awaited project to open up the copper, nickel and other precious minerals under Iron Range land known as the Duluth Complex.
The bill does not authorize any mining project, nor interfere in any way with state and federal entities that must approve future mining projects. It simply codifies and expedites the pending administrative transaction – 6,690 acres of private land become public, granting visitors and tribal members access to trails and recreation, abundant timber resources, a huge tract of wild rice water at Hay Lake, and almost 2,000 acres of wetlands. In return, PolyMet will receive and transfer into private ownership 6,650 acres of contiguous mining-friendly land surrounded by existing mining operations and infrastructure.
Not everyone was pleased about the land swap. On its home page the Sierra Club North Star chapter posted this on the day of the bill’s passage, “Legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN) – H.R. 3115 – would approve an exchange of Superior National Forest lands in order to expedite PolyMet’s toxic sulfide mine. This legislative attack is a last-ditch effort to undermine four separate legal challenges that have been filed against this deeply flawed exchange scheme. There is still time to take action and prevent this bill from passing, but we need to act now.”
In his remarks on the House floor, Rep. Nolan pointed out the future public and economic benefits of the legislation, including the creation of hundreds of good paying jobs in mining and related industries. Tourism-related activities in the Superior National Forest will also benefit with the increased public access to 2,000 acres of lakeshore, wetlands, and wild rice waters.
Nolan also noted that the bill is supported by a bipartisan majority of the Minnesota Congressional Delegation, Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, Democratic and Republican leaders in the Minnesota legislature, and communities, businesses, private citizens, and economic development organizations throughout the region.
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton also expressed his support for the project, which relies on the land exchange for its success.
“This bill is a win for taxpayers, for the environment, and for good paying jobs,” said Rep Nolan. “The public will gain access to 2,000 acres of beautiful wetlands, lakeshore, and wild rice waters, while PolyMet receives a smaller area bordered by existing mining operations and infrastructure that it already owns the mineral rights to. If the land exchange – which has already been approved by the Obama Administration’s Forest Service – becomes law, it would mark an important step toward providing our nation the precious metals it requires to meet growing demands in defense, manufacturing, health care, environmental ‘green’ technologies and medical research. As I have said many times before, any potential mining project must meet the rigorous state and federal environmental regulations before it can move forward.”
The legislation does not affect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in any way.
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