WASHINGTON, D.C. / ELY, MN — Stauber Minnesota Realty™ is proud to announce that the Boundary Waters watershed transaction has closed. Today the President signed H.J. Res. 140, lead listing agent Pete Stauber’s Congressional Review Act resolution repealing the 20-year mineral withdrawal on 225,504 acres of the Superior National Forest upstream of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
The House approved the resolution on January 21 by 214–208; the Senate followed on April 16, 50–49, with only Senators Thom Tillis and Susan Collins crossing over. It is the first time the Congressional Review Act has ever been used to kill a mineral withdrawal — and under the Act, no “substantially similar” protection can be reissued without new legislation.
The buyer, Twin Metals Minnesota, is owned by the Chilean mining company Antofagasta PLC. Between the second quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, Twin Metals paid $380,000 to the Bernhardt Group, a lobbying firm led by former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. In August 2025, Impact Research found that 57% of Minnesotans opposed sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed and 23% supported it; 86% viewed the Boundary Waters favorably. The Forest Service’s 2022 review drew 675,000 public comments, more than 95% in favor of protection.
Agent Stauber’s statement notes that no future president can undo the transaction. Stauber Minnesota Realty confirms: this is the only sale in our portfolio designed so the next owner can’t return it.
View the full closing documents at the Boundary Waters listing →
The agent who closed this deal is up for renewal November 3.
How to vote in Minnesota →