The Boundary Waters is not just a place on a map to me. My parents brought me camping as a baby, and from the very beginning they taught me to love nature and the peace and healing it brings. I have been going to the Boundary Waters since childhood, and it has become part of my story, my values, and my sense of home.
As a child, I learned something there that has stayed with me my whole life: nature is not just beautiful, it is healing. In the still water, the tall pines, and the deep quiet, I found peace, wonder, and a connection to something larger than myself. The Boundary Waters helped shape the way I see the world and taught me that some places are sacred.

The Senate’s passage of H.J. Res. 140 was a heartbreaking step backward for the Boundary Waters. By a 50–49 vote on April 16, 2026, the Senate moved to overturn the 20-year federal mining protection covering 225,504 acres of the Superior National Forest watershed upstream of this irreplaceable wilderness. That matters because it weakens one of the most important barriers standing between the Boundary Waters and sulfide-ore mining. But this is not the end. People can still raise their voices, contact elected leaders, support organizations and tribal nations fighting to defend these waters, and push hard during every future lease, environmental review, and permitting process. This vote matters because when protections are removed, the risk to clean water, wilderness, and future generations becomes far more real. 
That is why the threat of sulfide-ore mining near this wilderness is so deeply alarming. Sulfide-ore mining carries the risk of acid mine drainage, which happens when sulfide-bearing rock is exposed to air and water and can create sulfuric acid that releases heavy metals into surrounding waters. In a place as interconnected and water-rich as the Boundary Waters watershed, that kind of pollution could spread through lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwater and cause damage that may last for generations.

The Boundary Waters is one of the most treasured wilderness areas in our country, and it should not be put at risk by mining and weakened protections. Once clean water is damaged, a fragile wilderness cannot simply be restored to what it was.

We need strong, lasting protections for the Boundary Waters. I am asking our leaders to defend this irreplaceable place for the people who love it now and for the generations who deserve to experience its peace, beauty, and healing in the future. I want my girls and future generations to be able to experience the Boundary Waters the same way I had a little girl.

Please sign and share this petition if you believe the Boundary Waters is worth protecting.