Boundary Waters education program loses state funding

Minnesota GOP senators passed an amendment Monday that would strip grant money from the Friends of the Boundary Waters educational program. Sen. Keri Heintzeman of Nisswa introduced the amendment to House File 3426, an appropriations bill distributing grant money from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

“What has come to light regarding Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, when they created and disseminated a call to action video that boasted of support from the ENRTF, raises serious questions about how public trust was violated,” Heintzeman said while introducing the amendment on the Senate floor.

Friends of the Boundary Waters is structured into two entities. Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that does educational, legislative and community work throughout Minnesota. The second arm of the organization is Friends of the Boundary Waters Action Network, which does political advocacy. It operates as a separate 501(c)(4) nonprofit and is not tax-exempt.

WTIP reached out to Executive Director Chris Knopf, who said no funds from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund are used for the Friends of the Boundary Waters Action Network.

GOP senators took issue with a 17-second video posted by Friends of the Boundary Waters that included the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund logo. Friends of the Boundary Waters said the logo was added in error, removed the video after realizing the mistake and sent letters to the Legislature apologizing.

Senators criticizing the organization did not specify whether Friends of the Boundary Waters violated any rules or regulations. The organization has received funding for years through the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund without issue. This year appeared no different, as the program was recommended for funding through the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.

No Boundaries to the Boundary Waters

The program that lost funding is called “No Boundaries to the Boundary Waters.” The program provides Boundary Waters education to thousands of students throughout the state and organizes wilderness trips for students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to visit the Boundary Waters. One of the trips is organized through Cook County Public Schools.

“This is a huge concern, because more than half the kids that we reach in the Grand Marais public schools and the Ely public schools have never even been in the Boundary Waters,” Knopf told WTIP.

Senator Jen McEwen of Duluth spoke to the importance of the educational program on the Senate floor.

“There’s many testimonials from the teachers and students about how these experiences going up to the Boundary Waters has changed their perspective,” McEwen said. “Students talking about how they didn’t even really realize what it could be like to be in the wilderness and to be completely not connected to phones, not connected to electricity in a noise-free, light-free zone, where you are really immersed in the wilderness.”

Mining debate fuels tensions

Knopf believes the event promoted in the social media video drew the ire of Republicans in the Legislature. On March 25, Friends of the Boundary Waters held a mock hearing on issues associated with copper-nickel sulfide mining.

“Essentially do the job of the Minnesota Legislature,” Knopf told WTIP. “So we brought experts. So we had three senators, state senators, to actually provide testimony at the Minnesota legislature.”

There has not been a hearing on the effects of copper-nickel sulfide mining in the Minnesota legislature since 2009.

“It was right at the Capitol by some Republican senator’s offices, and they got angry that we were advocating for protecting clean water, and they were looking for a way to punish us,” Knopf said.

Heintzeman cited “mock hearings” as one of the political activities she opposed while introducing the amendment. WTIP reached out to Heintzeman for an interview or comment regarding the amendment but did not hear back before publication.

Heintzeman was elected to the Minnesota Senate after former Sen. Justin Eichorn resigned following his arrest in an undercover child sex sting. She served as director of President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District and is the wife of state Rep. Josh Heintzeman, who serves on the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. Rep. Heintzeman also criticized the social media post in the Minnesota House.

DFL Response

Most DFL senators opposed the amendment. Sen. Foung Hawj, who helped author the bill, said Friends of the Boundary Waters should not be punished for a “mistake.” McEwen argued money from mining interests, particularly the mining conglomerate Antofagasta, was behind the amendment.

“We don’t see typically a motion to remove an allocation that is part of an LCCMR bill, because of one mistake on social media that was promptly removed and apologized for profusely,” McEwen said. “We’re seeing this now because today, at the Minnesota Capitol, the Antofagasta Mining Corporation reached its hand into this Capitol and is saying we’re going to make sure that any organization who is involved in trying to blow the whistle on what we’re trying to do will be punished one way or the other.”

Sen. Grant Hauschild did not vote on the amendment, releasing the following statement:

“Before the debate, knowing the amendment already had the votes to pass and remove the funding, I was in discussions on another amendment that would have preserved funding for getting kids into the BWCA by shifting money to another outdoor youth organization. Unfortunately, that compromise amendment couldn’t be agreed to, and the amendment to take away the funding received the votes necessary to strip the funding. While my final vote wouldn’t have changed the outcome, I would have supported maintaining the funding if I was on the floor at that time.”

Senator Hauschild voted to pass the bill after the amendment was successful.

Lawmakers question grant cost

Minnesota legislators also questioned the amount requested by Friends of the Boundary Waters. Senators appeared confused about how many children would be served by the program.

“It’s kind of discouraging to see, in recent data being brought to us, numbers being brought to us, that the costs at $1.2 million would have, if you break that down, fallen into about $6,000 per kid that was purported to be able to access this program,” said Rep. Josh Heitzeman. “So maybe that’s a wake-up call to those of us on the LCCMR.”

WTIP received a copy of the proposal submitted by Friends of the Boundary Waters. In the three-year proposal, the organization said it hoped to reach 12,000 children through classroom outreach and take 600 children into the Boundary Waters. That would place the $1.2 million grant at less than $100 per child.

The amended bill passed both chambers after going to conference committee. Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign it into law.

Josh Hinke May 18, 2026