Mining order may threaten national monuments, Boundary Waters, other public lands

WASHINGTON D.C. (March 20, 2025) — President Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting the mining and processing of minerals, including rushing the approval of mining applications, reducing opportunities for public input and directing the Department of the Interior to produce a list of public lands where mining should be prioritized as a “primary” use. 

Importantly, the order dramatically expands the range of minerals considered “critical” and invokes war-time authorities so the government can use taxpayer money to effectively subsidize companies that already mine hardrock minerals without paying royalties. 

Among other iconic landscapes that have been a target of hardrock and coal mining interests, the order could threaten a number of national monuments (including Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon) and the watershed of the Boundary Waters-Canoe Area Wilderness.  

Ronni Flannery, senior staff attorney at The Wilderness Society, made the following statement about the news: 

“Few things unite this country like the love of our public lands and the outdoors, but today, the administration opened yet another front in its efforts to sell these places off for development —this time to move mining projects forward at warp-speed for the good of international mining corporations. This executive order represents one of the most brazen attempts to expand mining on public lands in more than a century, in line with the administration’s push to privatize our shared public lands. And it could end up posing significant risks to lands, waters, wildlife and the communities that rely on them, both in the present day and for generations to come.  

We all use minerals in our everyday lives, but there are more responsible ways to secure domestic supplies. Current law already provides few protections for wildlife, water and local communities. Steamrolling community concerns, stripping important protections and cutting safeguards, as this executive order proposes, would make matters even worse. This is not the way to solve this important challenge. We should be concentrating on reforming mining practices, building in rigorous oversight and ensuring mining avoids the most sensitive landscapes.”