AFS Water Quality Section

THE SENATE IS VOTING ON THE BOUNDARY WATERS RIGHT NOW!
Tonight, while most people are watching TV or putting their kids to bed, the U.S. Senate is taking a vote that could permanently end protections for one of the most beloved wilderness areas in America.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota 1.1 million acres of pristine lakes, rivers, and forest. The most visited wilderness in the entire country. And tonight, the Senate is voting on whether to open it to copper mining.
The vote is happening as you read this. The resolution is H.J. Res. 140. It uses the Congressional Review Act to strip a 20-year mining ban protecting 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest that feeds directly into the Boundary Waters watershed.
A few minutes ago, the Senate voted 51-48 just to proceed. That margin tells you everything about where this is headed.
Here’s what makes this especially infuriating: the mine would be operated by Twin Metals a subsidiary of a Chilean company with a deal to smelt the copper in China. Foreign company with foreign profits. American wilderness destroyed. China gets the copper. We get the pollution.
And if it passes? It’s not just a setback you can undo in four years. The Congressional Review Act has a poison pill once a protection is overturned this way, no future president can ever issue a similar one again without a brand new act of Congress.
The Boundary Waters wouldn’t just lose its protections tonight. It would lose them permanently.

The Water Quality Section will be hosting a symposium at the 2026 annual American Fisheries Society conference in Columbus, OH. It will happen some time between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3 (symposia are generrally on the first or second day of the conference. We are looking for contributions from you…the water quality professionals, especially from young and upcoming scientists and managers that are developing innovastive technologies and methods. In this symposium, we explore the following questions: (1) how do CECs directly or indirectly impact fisheries resources (fish/shellfish, habitats, and/or consumers), (2) are there compounds with low detection limits (e.g., pyrethroids) in storm water runoff that may contribute to downstream chronic health problems in fish and their food webs, and (3) what technological advances or methods are available to help fisheries and water quality agencies detect, remove, and/or monitor CECs to safeguard these resources and the consumers of contaminated fish. Abstract submission will open up soon at fisheries.org for the conference, so get yours ready!