Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Chairman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tracy Stone-Manning requesting answers on the administration's decision to lock up rich mineral deposits in and around the Superior National Forest. In part, the members wrote:

"The Committee sent the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management two previous letters—on November 20, 2023 and January 8, 2024—to which we received inadequate responses. 

"For example, the Committee received no explanation of how canceling the Twin Metals leases or withdrawing hundreds of thousands of acres of mineral-rich lands from exploration and development supports reducing our nation’s dependence on minerals sourced from foreign adversaries. … Worse yet, the Committee received no evidence that either the DOI or BLM considered the economic or practical impact on businesses in Northern Minnesota before choosing to obstruct mineral production there."

Read the full letter here. 

Background

Northeast Minnesota is home to one of the world's largest known undeveloped copper-nickel deposits. The Biden-Harris administration’s decision to shutter the resource's development is the latest example of the administration’s intent to block access to the domestic raw materials necessary for daily life and our national security.

The Twin Metals mine would tap into vast domestic supplies of minerals, like copper, that are necessary for renewable energy, computer systems, defense applications and essential household products.

This is the third letter from the House Committee on Natural Resources requesting information about this devastating mineral withdrawal and lease cancellation. Read the first two letters here and here. The committee also held a legislative hearing and a full committee markup in May 2023 of H.Con.Res. 34, introduced by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) which expressed congressional disproval for the withdrawal. H.Con.Res.34 passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2024.