Minnesota Lawmakers Cancel Funding for Boundary Waters Educational Trips

During the final week of the legislative session, state lawmakers ended $1.2 million in funding for a Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness program that hosts educational trips for kids after Republicans criticized the nonprofit as promoting political messaging in opposition to mining.

Although Friends of the Boundary Waters found alternative sources of money to continue the program this summer, the organization views the GOP-led move as retribution for their stance on mining in northern Minnesota.

"These are five-day trips that are impactful," Friends of the Boundary Waters communications director Pete Marshall said. "For many, they're life-changing trips, and now that funding is gone."

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness has been on the frontlines of the fight against copper-sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters, lobbying heavily against the law signed by President Trump last month that reversed a Biden-era mining ban in the Superior National Forest. At the same time, the group also runs the "No Boundaries to the Boundary Waters" program, an educational initiative that brings curriculum to classrooms and has helped thousands of kids take canoe trips in the Boundary Waters over the years.

Funding for the "No Boundaries" program in Fiscal Year 2027 was included on a list of recommendations this year by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). The funding source came from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF).

However, GOP Senator Keri Heintzman brought an amendment to the Senate floor on May 11 seeking to remove the Friends of the Boundary Waters funding from a broader environmental bill, saying "most of what they do is political." Heintzman and other Republicans specifically pointed to a now-deleted social media post, in which Friends of the Boundary Waters used the LCCMR logo in a clip advocating against mining.

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness has acknowledged that using a state logo was a mistake, but the nonprofit says it keeps advocacy work separate from educational programs. "The arguments that were made on the Senate floor were, frankly, false," Pete Marshall said. "This is not a program that teaches kids to be for or against mining, it's a program that teaches kids about the wonder that is the Boundary Waters."

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness is hopeful the "No Boundaries" trips can continue in future years with the help of private donations. The organization says a separate Friends of the Boundary Waters program to improve access for northern Minnesota kids has remained intact.