The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is the last great wilderness in the Midwest, consisting of more than 1 million acres of glacial lakes and mixed North Woods forests. This is the destination for making traditional canoe trips through unspoiled north country habitat, and more than 150,000 folks visit the BWCA each year. But this region also holds one of the largest untapped copper reserves in the world — this valuable mineral is used in everything from cell phones to cars. And for decades there have been pushes to mine this reserve. Specifically, a company called Twin Metals, which is a subsidiary of a Chilean mining company, has applied for mining leases near the boundary waters. Under the pro-extraction Trump Administration there’s a real possibility for the proposed mine to advance. Insiders say that the Biden-era mining moratorium placed on the national forest surrounding the Boundary Waters could be lifted by the Trump Administration at any moment. For this episode of the ...