Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act

Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act

This bill withdraws approximately 234,328 acres of federal land and waters in a specified area in the Rainy River Watershed of Superior National Forest in Minnesota from

• entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws;
• location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
• operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.

The area is adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Mining Protection Area. Land or interest in land within such area that is acquired by the United States shall be immediately withdrawn in accordance with this bill.

The Forest Service is authorized to permit the removal of sand, granite, iron ore, and taconite from national forest system lands within such area if the removal is not detrimental to the water quality, air quality, and health of forest habitat within the Rainy River Watershed.