“No matter how much one may love the world as a whole, one can live fully in it, only by living responsibly in some small part of it. Where we live and who we live there with define the terms of our relationship to the world and to humanity.”

— Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture

Until this month, I’ve never written an opinion about copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). My previous Angry Shmo post was the first time I voiced opposition to sulfide-ore mining near the BWCA. Yesterday, the Duluth News Tribune just published a piece I wrote about sulfide-ore mining. I debunked my congressman’s claim that these proposed mines make us less reliant on China.

I climbed off the fence for a couple reasons. The first reason is that I care deeply about our public lands. Virtually every outdoor experience of my life took place on federal, state, county, or city public land. My identity was formed by my outdoor life. It’s difficult to explain how important public land and the outdoors is to me. I certainly can’t do it in one paragraph. But it’s because of this primary reason that I can’t stand watching special interests risk permanently harming public land. Especially when they’re willing to risk a one-of-a-kind landscape. This first reason has become more important now that MAGA controls both houses of Congress.

The second reason I got off the fence is the new one. This second reason is the catalyst. My family has lived in Duluth for 23 years. It’s the longest period of time that my wife and I have ever lived in one place. We both moved around all of our lives. We’ve lived in dozens of places. But some of the biggest outdoor adventures I’ve ever had took place right here in northern Minnesota. A 5-day solo backpacking trip on the Kekekabic Trail through the BWCA. A 6-day solo backpacking trip along the Border Route Trail through the BWCA. I hold the Fastest Known Time (Supported) for running from the Low Point in Minnesota (Lake Superior) to the High Point (Eagle Mountain in the BWCA) and back. I have hiked, run, and paddled hundreds of miles of the north country.

My home is in the watershed of one of these two proposed mines. My cabin is in the watershed of one of the mines. I raised my children at that cabin, swimming and fishing for decades in that water. I’ve paddled with my whole family along the border country lakes of the BWCA. The drinking water from my tap comes from Lake Superior, downstream from one of these mines. 60% of my body is water, so I’m mostly Lake Superior now.

Maybe it’s the empty-nester thing. We’ve had a chance lately to look back and reflect. For whatever reason, I turned a mental corner this winter. The second reason I got off the fence is because, after a lifetime of moving, I finally realize that Duluth is where I live. Duluth is my home. Like Wendell Berry says, you can only live fully in this world by trying to live responsibly in some small part of it. I’m going to fight for the land and water right here.

Sure, I’m prone to hyperbole. I admit it. But if I get worked up in the face of fascism and attacks on our public lands, so be it. You can engrave it on my headstone: “He overreacted.” I guess time will tell whether I was correct. (Narrator voice: He was correct.)

My dog Leo and I ran along the Temperance River in the fall of 2014. He and I ran all 310-miles of the Superior Hiking Trail that year in 41 sections over a 5-month period. Like Charlie Parr says in his song, Temperance River Blues:

My home is where my love abides

My home is where my love abides

My home is where my love abides

My home

Call to Action for Minnesotans: BWCA Protection

MN Senator Cwodzinski and MN Representative Falconer introduced bills in the Minnesota state legislature to protect the BWCA from sulfide-ore mining pollution. If you’re a Minnesotan, contact your representative to let them know you SUPPORT their bills. It’s easy. Contact your Minnesota elected officials at this link.

Call to Action: BWCA Protection

The BWCA is a federal Wilderness Area. It belongs to everyone. I will never understand why my Congressman, who lives in the watershed of one of these mines with me, is willing to risk sulfide-ore mining in his own district. What’s more troubling is that his H.R. 978 (The Superior National Forest Restoration Act) forbids judicial review of mining permits and leases. Nothing says you’re confident in the safety of your mines like cutting out oversight by a whole branch of government. This is a terrible precedent for our public lands. Contact your national elected members of Congress here and tell them to OPPOSE H.R. 978.