Stauber’s resolution opposes federal mine leasing ban in Minnesota

U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) on April 25 sponsored a resolution opposing action by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to remove hundreds of thousands of acres of National Forest System lands in his home state of Minnesota from federal mine leasing programs. 

“Mining is our past, present and future in northern Minnesota, despite an endless war on our way of life from the Biden administration,” Rep. Stauber said. “It is well past time for elected officials, not appointed bureaucrats, to dictate how and when America’s abundant resources and public lands are utilized.”

Rep. Stauber on Tuesday introduced House Concurrent Resolution 34 to disapprove of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s withdrawal of roughly 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest from federal geothermal and mineral extraction leases for the next 20 years, which is the maximum that the Department of the Interior can apply. Only Congress can authorize a permanent withdrawal of federal lands, like those in the Superior National Forest, from these programs. 

Specifically, Secretary Haaland on Jan. 31 issued Public Land Order No. 7917, which withdrew 225,504 acres of National Forest System land in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, Minnesota, from disposition under the United States mineral and geothermal leasing law, according to the text of the resolution.

Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Congress can override an administrative withdrawal by the Secretary of the Interior of 5,000 acres or more “if the Congress has adopted a concurrent resolution stating that such House does not approve the withdrawal,” the text says. 

“Secretary Haaland’s 225,000 acre ban on mining in the Superior National Forest qualifies as a trigger to this congressional authority laid out in statute,” said Rep. Stauber. “Congress is exercising its authority to roll back this misguided ban and secure our domestic mineral supply chains.”

The resolution has been referred to the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee for consideration.