Opinion: Jeers to House bill that threatens the Boundary Waters

DETROIT LAKES — Cheers to Essentia Health for its Resourceful program, which is one of five innovative programs honored nationally by the American Hospital Association for “demonstrated a deep commitment to creating healthier communities,” according to an AFA news release.

The Resourceful program was launched in 2021 as a public resource directory, connecting community members with thousands of verified programs providing free and reduced-cost services.

Information available at WeAreResourceful.org is customized for the specific needs of the communities served by Essentia Health, which includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota.

The program integrates into Essentia Health’s electronic medical record system and is widely used by community members, including Essentia staff and local organizations.

All Essentia patients are screened for social needs at primary care and pediatric appointments. Its team of community health workers develop relationships with patients and utilize Resourceful to connect them to services addressing patient concerns such as food insecurity, transportation and housing.

“It’s a highly collaborative program with a community leadership team that sets annual performance targets, reviews robust evaluation metrics and monitors community and patient feedback,” according to the AHA.

“This year’s Dick Davidson NOVA Award winners have demonstrated dedication and commitment to improving community health by forging strong partnerships with other community organizations,” said AHA president and CEO Rick Pollack. “These hospitals and health systems offer exemplary and essential services and programs that have adapted and evolved to effectively meet the changing needs of their communities.

Jeers to the anti-Boundary Waters bill, H.R. 3195, the “Superior National Forest Restoration Act,” which was narrowly approved by the House of Representatives, even though 52 outdoors- and environmental-groups sent a letter to Congress opposing the legislation.

The bill rescinds the Biden Administration’s 20-year ban on mineral withdrawal, which protects 225,504 acres of the Superior National Forest in the Boundary Waters headwaters from mining development and degradation, according to the Save the Boundary Waters organization.

In an April 29 statement prior to the vote, the Biden Administration strongly opposed the bill, saying it “would undermine decades of local efforts to protect the pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness —a spectacular network of rivers, lakes, and forests that comprise the most heavily visited wilderness in the United States — from pollution from mining in its watershed.”

Worse yet, according to Save the Boundary Waters, the bill would “automatically force the issuance of federal mineral leases to Chilean mining giant Antofagasta without review, place an arbitrary and truncated 18-month review on any environmental review and project permits, and block any judicial review of prospecting permits and mineral leases within the watershed of the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs National Park.”

Some 70% of Minnesotans support a ban on sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters headwaters, and “a vast collection of peer-reviewed science shows that if Antofagasta’s Twin Metals copper-nickel mine were built along the rivers and streams flowing into the Wilderness, pollution and environmental degradation would be certain,” according to Save the Boundary Waters.

For those concerned about critical minerals, which are essential to the economic and national security of the United States, and which include rare earth elements that now come mostly from China, we urge them to consider a new find in North Dakota

Last year, the North Dakota Geological Survey identified significant rare earth and germanium enrichment in lignites beneath a 30-foot-thick, brightly colored interval of rocks called the Rhame bed, which is about 1,000 feet below a similar interval of rocks called the Bear Den Member of the Golden Valley Formation.

Both the Rhame bed and Bear Den Member are ancient soil horizons that formed millions of years ago when the climate in North Dakota was both warmer and wetter. The intense weathering of these rocks leached critical minerals from the weathering sediment and concentrated them in the underlying lignites.

The Rhame bed outcrops across southwestern North Dakota, from southern Golden Valley County through Slope, Bowman, Adams, Grant, and Morton counties. It is exposed at the surface or just below ground over an area of 1.3 million acres with the most extensive outcrops found in Bowman and Slope counties.

How 'bout we look there first?

Farm Rescue is a nonprofit that rolls up its sleeves and gives free planting, haying, harvesting, commodity hauling and livestock feeding help to farm families going through a major illness, injury or natural disaster.

The Farm Family Wellness Alliance helps bring no-cost mental health and wellbeing services to all American farm families.

“As rural communities have become more isolated, and resources have become more scarce, access to health and wellness services and support is one of the most serious issues facing farmers,” said Tim Brennan, vice president of external relations for Farm Foundation. “Organizations like Farm Rescue and Farm Foundation are coming together through the Farm Family Wellness Alliance to support the precious families that grow our food fiber and fuel."

Farm Rescue will now be one of the many resources available to farm families through the Togetherall community, which offers a range of wellbeing tools, such as self-assessments and access to additional support services through a partnership with Personal Assistance Services.

To learn more about the Farm Family Wellness Alliance and the services available through the Togetherall platform, visit farmfoundation.org/resources/farm-family-wellness-alliance .

These services come thanks to a coalition of organizations, including Farm Foundation, American Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Credit, CoBank, Iowa Farm Bureau, Native American Agriculture Fund, Land O’Lakes, CHS, National Farmers Union, 4H, FFA, Agriculture Future of America, Togetherall and Personal Assistance Services.