SAINT PAUL – Alex Falconer once ran across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
On Friday, May 1, he was stationary, taking questions from an ethics committee about his dual role as an employee of Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness NMW (more commonly referred to as Save the Boundary Waters) and his role as an elected official serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
The hearing came about after Republicans in the Legislature filed a complaint claiming that Falconer’s “choice to repeatedly carry legislation being supported and lobbied for by his employer clearly violates House norms and brings the House into dishonor.” The ethics complaint says Falconer, who was elected to the House in 2024, is focused on Boundary Waters legislation that NMW supports and lobbies for. That focus, the GOP-led complaint said, amounts to a conflict of interest.
The Minnesota House Ethics Committee, a bipartisan group of representatives, felt differently. The complaint against Falconer, who represents the Eden Prairie and Lake Minnetonka areas, was unanimously dismissed on May 1 by the committee.
Falconer said in an interview with this reporter on May 4 that he ended his work as a lobbyist and that he works for NMW because of his passion for the BWCA, a sentiment he echoed during the committee hearing on Friday.
“I’m working for everyone who values the integrity of our public lands,” he said.
Sitting beside Falconer during the ethics hearing on Friday was attorney David Zoll. Representing Falconer and speaking on his behalf, Zoll said it’s common for legislators “to bring their personal and professional expertise to serve the people of Minnesota.”
Zoll said teachers advance legislation relating to education, farmers advance legislation relating to agricultural policy, and outdoors people will work to advance legislation supporting fish and wildlife regulations.
“They have the experience and expertise to come and do the work on behalf of the state of Minnesota,” Zoll said in reference to the various groups who could be viewed as representing a certain demographic or cause in the state.
David Schultz is a professor of political science and legal studies at Hamline University in Minnesota, where he teaches classes in American politics, public policy, and ethics. When Paddle & Portage media asked Schultz about the complaint filed against Falconer, he said the complaint had merit, representing a clear conflict of interest from his perspective.
“The representative appears to be authoring legislation from which he could personally benefit,” Schultz said. “By ‘personal benefit,’ I mean that he is advancing legislation aligned with the interests of his employer, who in turn compensates him.”
Schultz said on May 2 that he was not surprised the complaint against Falconer, as well as a separate complaint filed against two House Republicans accused of alcohol-related ethics violations, were all dismissed.
“Repeatedly, the Legislature has shown it is incapable of policing itself,” Schultz said. “In most other states, there is an independent body that does an investigation. Legislators in Minnesota have no interest in going after themselves.”
Falconer said on May 4 he was ready to put the situation involving the ethics complaint behind him and focus on the remainder of the legislative session, which ends later this month. While discussing his priorities as a metro-based legislator, Falconer said his constituents in the Eden Prairie and Lake Minnetonka area knew he was passionate about the Boundary Waters when he ran for office in 2024. He often describes how he campaigned with a canoe atop his vehicle, for example.
In 2021, Falconer made headlines when he ran across a large section of the BWCA. More recently, and following his election to the House, one piece of legislation he’s introduced would prohibit mining permits, leases, and licenses on state-owned land near the BWCA Wilderness “to ensure long-term protection against acid mine drainage.”
Boundary Waters legislation like Falconer’s often stalls at both the state and federal levels, as recent history has shown repeatedly. In the Minnesota House and Senate districts that represent the Boundary Waters region, seats currently held by Roger Skraba and Grant Hauschild, respectively, there’s little in the way of direct communication about BWCA bills or any similar legislation, Falconer told P&P. Skraba is a known supporter of proposed copper-nickel mines on the edge of the BWCA Wilderness, while Hauschild maintains the often-shared stance among DFL elects in northern Minnesota of ‘let’s allow the process to unfold as it is designed to do,’ largely in reference to state and federal permitting and environmental reviews. Falconer said he rarely, if ever, speaks to Skraba or Hauschild, even though the Boundary Waters legislation pertains directly to their district.
The political theater of the Boundary Waters is robust following a vote last month in the U.S. Senate to lift a mining ban outside of the BWCA Wilderness on the Superior National Forest. Following the April 16 vote in the Senate, a whirlwind of media coverage on the future of the Boundary Waters has unfolded across the nation. Paddle & Portage readers, listeners to the podcast, and community members in the Grand Marais and Ely area have all reached out with questions, concerns, or ideas for how to cover the story. A Cook County (Grand Marais area) resident sent an email April 22, noting that “the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported Stauber’s BWCA bill and our local chamber is a member.”
Paddle & Portage confirmed the U.S. Chamber’s stance on the issue, and asked Linda Jurek, the director of Visit Cook County and the Cook County Chamber of Commerce, for comment on the matter. She replied April 23, stating, “The Cook County Chamber is a non-voting member of state and national chambers of commerce, which allows us to stay informed on issues affecting small businesses. We do not take official positions on federal legislation, including H.R. 140. As an organization representing a diverse business community, our role is to support local businesses rather than advocate for specific federal policy positions.”
With the fishing opener approaching May 9 and the start of the paddling season in the BWCA, we asked Falconer if all the attention around the issue of mining near the wilderness is beginning to have a negative impact on the user experience.
Falconer said people should continue to enjoy the Boundary Waters, and then they should educate themselves on the threats to the wilderness. Falconer spoke with Paddle & Portage media on May 4 about the situation. The entire conversation can be viewed on the Paddle & Portage YouTube page.
