Throughout 2025, your unwavering support has enabled us to achieve meaningful progress in protecting the Boundary Waters for generations to come. These 5 victories, combined with the countless moments we’ve all experienced in this cherished wilderness, fuel our determination as we face the work still ahead.

The Boundary Waters needs all of us now more than ever, and we hope you’ll stay connected with us as we continue standing strong for this irreplaceable wilderness!

1. STOPPING A CORRUPT GIVEAWAY TO FOREIGN MINING INTERESTS

This spring, the Boundary Waters faced one of its most brazen threats yet. Buried deep in Congress’s 1,000+ page Budget Reconciliation Bill — the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” — were provisions that would have handed 225,000 acres of public land surrounding the Boundary Waters to a Chilean mining conglomerate. In addition, it would have gutted environmental review and blocked courts from reviewing this corrupt deal.

But you refused to let it happen.

For weeks, you flooded congressional offices with calls and emails. You amplified the message on social media, turning friends into activists and building unstoppable momentum. Our DC team made dozens of Hill visits, while our legal team crafted a bulletproof memo proving these provisions violated Senate budget rules, which requires budget bills to focus on fiscal matters, not policy giveaways.

The strategy worked. Realizing the impossibility of their position, House leadership stripped out the most controversial Boundary Waters attacks before sending the bill to the Senate.

There is a powerful lesson here: when people power meets political greed, people power wins. Together, we showed that our public lands aren’t for sale to foreign billionaires. They belong to all of us. And we’ll fight to keep them that way.

2. CONNECTING MORE STUDENTS TO THE WILDERNESS

We’ve long believed that the most effective way to create the next generation of wilderness stewards is simple: Introduce them to the Boundary Waters. In 2025, our No Boundaries to the Boundary Waters program reached new heights in doing exactly that.

This year, we provided 4,000 program experiences across Minnesota, from classroom visits and interactive Boundary Waters Adventure Days to hands-on skills workshops. We worked with schools and organizations from Minneapolis and St. Paul to Ely, Fond du Lac, Duluth, Bemidji, and beyond, teaching everything from orienteering and water quality to fire building and Leave No Trace principles.

Over this past summer, 204 students from 18 different partner schools and organizations experienced life-changing canoe trips into the Boundary Waters. Through our Thomas Flint Memorial Canoe trips, and partnerships with a number of different organizations, students learned teamwork, gained confidence, and discovered the power, and wonder, of nature. As one student reflected, “I’ve made memories, learned about myself, gained new strengths, and so much more.”

We even took the Boundary Waters to students nationwide: through our “Paddles and Pines” livestream series with Expeditions in Education, over 7,000 out-of-state students virtually explored the wilderness.

Thanks to vital LCCMR funding and incredible community partnerships, we’re building a generation of young people who will protect the Boundary Waters for decades to come.

3. BUILDING A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT TO DEFEND THE BOUNDARY WATERS

The Trump administration may be moving quickly to clear the path for toxic mining near the Boundary Waters. But we moved faster. We brought together thousands of Americans, from all over the country, who are determined to stop foreign mining companies from taking over our wilderness. We turned that determination into action.

In 2025, we built the foundations of a movement. Through our Clean Water Coalition and Citizen Action Network, we brought together faith communities, businesses, Indigenous leaders, and concerned citizens in a unified defense of clean water. We reached over 105,000 people through presentations, rallies, and events—including 25,000 at the Hands Off Rally and 15,000 at an Earth Day Rally.

Your voices echoed through the halls of power: supporters sent 55,618 messages to elected officials. We made 176 visits to Congressional offices across 9 trips to Washington, DC. We held 58 lobbying meetings with Minnesota legislators. At Boundary Waters Day at the Capitol, 300 people gathered to make their voices heard.

This organizing paid off: 82 Minnesota legislators now support at least one of our priorities. As we head into the 2026 election year, this movement, your movement, will only grow. 

When Washington threatens our wilderness, Minnesota stands united. That’s the power of a movement.

4. LAUNCHING A CLIMATE RESILIENCE STRATEGY FOR THE BOUNDARY WATERS

Climate change doesn’t stop at the wilderness boundary. Friends launched our Climate and Conservation Program to tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing the Boundary Waters and Northeastern Minnesota: how to protect and steward this irreplaceable ecosystem in a rapidly changing climate.

Led by Dr. Sam Reed, our new program is already building the foundation for climate-smart conservation across the region. We’re spearheading a comprehensive review of climate research in the Quetico-Superior ecosystem. This is valuable research that will inform how we manage and protect the Boundary Waters for generations to come.

The response has been extraordinary. In just the first two months, we’ve engaged 35 stakeholders from state agencies, federal partners, Tribal authorities, universities, and conservation organizations such as Minnesota DNR, the 1854 Treaty Authority, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, U.S. Forest Service, University of Minnesota, and The Nature Conservancy. These partnerships represent a powerful coalition committed to climate resilience in Northern Minnesota.

Thanks to essential LCCMR Funding, this work will help identify critical research gaps, test management strategies, and create a digital hub that makes climate science accessible to policymakers, land managers, and the public. With this program, we’re building the tools and partnerships needed to ensure the Boundary Waters remains resilient in the face of climate change

5. BACKING POLYMET/NEWRANGE INTO A CORNER

Over a year ago, in November 2024, Minnesota DNR announced it would suspend its review of PolyMet-NewRange’s permit to mine. In doing so, the agency acknowledged what Friends and our partners have been saying for years: PolyMet’s mine plan is flawed and unworkable.

The agency suspended its permit review after the mining conglomerate admitted it needed to fundamentally rethink its design.

Since then, the Swiss and Canadian-owned mining giant has failed to meet deadlines to present the public with its new plans. Asking for one extension after another, it has been unable to deliver any viable solution to the fundamental environmental, legal and health concerns that plague the mine.

As we head into 2026, the project continues to spin its wheels. This dangerous project that threatens to contaminate Lake Superior and affect the health of downstream communities such as Fond du Lac Band and Duluth, remains stalled.

Thanks to tireless legal advocacy, sustained donor support, and a broad coalition of clean water defenders, we’ve exposed the truth about this toxic sulfide mine and have corralled it into a corner. 

When we stand together, united for clean water, we can stop multi-billion-dollar mining giants.