The Honorable John Thune
Majority Leader
United States Senate
The Honorable Charles Schumer
Minority Leader
United States Senate
Dear Leaders Thune and Schumer,
As former superintendents of Voyageurs National Park, we had the privilege—and the responsibility—of protecting one of the most water-rich landscapes in the United States. Our mission was simple in principle but profound in consequence: safeguard the park’s interconnected lakes, wetlands, wildlife, and cultural heritage for future generations. Today, that mission is under direct threat.
H.J. Res. 140 is dangerous legislation that would open the door to sulfide-ore copper mining in the watershed that sustains Voyageurs. Sulfide mining poses an unacceptable risk to the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a risk that extends to Voyageurs National Park. Water does not recognize park boundaries or political lines. What happens upstream will inevitably reach Voyageurs. The stakes are clear: This resolution threatens the park’s waters, ecosystems, and the legacy we are entrusted to protect.
H.J. Res. 140 is not a minor adjustment to policy. It represents a fundamental shift. It would open the region to sulfide-ore copper mining by weakening or removing long-standing protections that currently limit such development near sensitive federal lands. These protections exist for a reason—once compromised, the damage cannot simply be undone.
The risks of sulfide mining are not theoretical. They are well-documented and unavoidable. No sulfide-ore mine in the United States has operated without polluting surrounding waters. When sulfide-bearing rock is exposed to air and water, it creates acid mine drainage—a toxic runoff that can leach heavy metals into rivers and lakes for decades, even centuries. Industry representatives often claim that modern technology can prevent these outcomes. The real-world record tells a different story—one of containment failures, leaks, and long-term contamination. The pattern is clear: The public bears the environmental cost, while private interests reap the financial reward.
For Voyageurs, the threat is immediate and direct. Its waters are not isolated; they are part of a broader hydrological system. Pollution introduced anywhere in the watershed will travel—into the lakes, into the fish, and into the fabric of the park itself. The consequences would be profound: contaminated fisheries, degraded water quality, damaged wildlife habitat, and a diminished visitor experience. Once these waters are polluted, they cannot be fully restored. The loss would be permanent.
We know what is at stake because we have lived it. Stewardship of Voyageurs is not an abstract concept—it is a solemn obligation. Every decision we made as superintendents was guided by one principle: leave the park unimpaired for those who come after us. That requires long-term thinking, not short-term extraction. It requires recognizing that some places are simply too valuable to risk.
Voyageurs National Park cannot be replaced. Its waters, its ecosystems, and its history are unique. The Senate now faces a choice that will echo far beyond this moment. Rejecting H.J. Res. 140 is not just about stopping a single piece of legislation—it is about upholding our responsibility to protect one of America’s great natural treasures.
For the sake of Voyageurs, and for future generations who deserve to experience it as we have, the Senate must reject H. J. Res 140.
Sincerely,
Robert DeGross, Superintendent, Voyageurs National Park (2016-2025)
Mike Ward, Superintendent, Voyageurs National Park (2008-2015)
Cc: Members of the U.S. Senate