Boundary Waters 2nd spot nationwide to be given "Wilderness Quiet Park" status

MINNEAPOLS -- A cool new title has been bestowed upon Minnesota's largest and most remote wilderness area.

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wildnerness in northeastern Minnesota now has "Wilderness Quiet Park" status. The award recognizes places that are utterly quiet.

Quiet Parks International says wild spaces in today's world can still often be filled with man-made noise.

Volunteers with QPI analyzed noise pollution data in and around the BWCAW to see if it made the cut.

The wilderness area is only the second in the United States to receive this award, after Glacier National Park.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration moved to protect the area from future mining, thereby blocking Twin Metals Minnesota's copper-nickel project.

The environmental group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness celebrated the decision on Thursday afternoon, saying that they are "protecting the boundary waters from the catastrophic disaster that sulfide mining would bring to Minnesota."

But the Local 49 union called it a "devastating blow to the Iron Range."