Calling the decision to remove mineral deposits in and around the Superior National Forest "disastrous", the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, the House Committee on Natural Resources, and the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources sought answers from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Tracy Stone Manning, Director of the Bureau of Land Management in a letter. This heated conversation was sparked by an issue involving environmental conservation versus economic progress.
The committee expressed their concerns through a detailed letter addressed to key individuals involved in this situation. The letter, dated Nov. 20, reads in part:
"The information will assist the Committee with its ongoing oversight efforts to ensure America’s access to essential minerals and the potential manipulation of U.S. tax-exempt organizations to influence America’s environmental, natural resource, and energy policies. The Committee is deeply concerned that Biden administration officials potentially held private, undocumented meetings with plaintiffs suing the federal government over the Twin Metals mining permits. Indeed, the Committee is alarmed by the Biden administration’s ongoing prioritization of radical demands of activists and far-left nonprofits over America’s energy and economic interests. As such, the Committee is interested in learning more about the Twin Metals lease cancellation, the Superior Withdrawal, and any related meetings the Biden administration had with nonprofit entities, especially given potential manipulation of U.S. tax-exempt organizations to influence America’s environmental, natural resource, and energy policies."
One central point raised by these committees revolves around a particular controversial action taken earlier this year. Regarding the Twin Metals lease cancellation, the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) announced in January 2022 that it was cancelling two mineral leases after a legal opinion from its Office of Solicitor "found significant legal deficiencies in circumstances surrounding 2019 renewal including contravened regulations; unrecognized authority of U.S. Forest Service; and an inadequate environmental analysis failed to include a no-renewal, no-action alternative."
Moreover, they are seeking further clarification on another critical decision made in the same region. The subcommittees also wanted answers regarding land withdrawal in the Boundary Waters region. That removal was announced in January 2023, according to the news release from DOI on Jan. 26, 2023. This removal of "approximately 225,504 acres in Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota from disposition under United States mineral and geothermal leasing laws for a 20-year period…will help protect Rainy River watershed including Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and 1854 Ceded Territory of Chippewa Bands from potential adverse impacts of new mineral and geothermal exploration and development."
