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Summary of A few days ahead of the start of session, DFL lawmakers Sen. Kelly Morrison of Deephaven and Rep. Sandra Feist introduced legislation aiming to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and its watershed by banning four high-risk practices used in sulfide-ore copper mining. The bill would follows guidance from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources that identified four features of sulfide-ore copper mining that pose a high risk of pollution to the Boundary Waters: Waste Tailing, Reactive Waste Rock, Heap Leaching and Smelting. The legislation would prevent mining upstream in the Rainy Rivers Headwaters watershed, which would have disastrous effects on a larger ecosystem that is protected by state and federal regulations. "The Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness is the beating heart of our state's a source of clean water, a haven for wildlife and a legacy that we have a duty to protect for future generations," Feist said during a news conference last week. "This common sense legislation would place into statute critical restrictions around sulfide-ore copper practices that we know for a fact would pollute as ecological and recreational gem."