Letter: Employment answers can be found in mines

Dear Editor:

I have lived in Montana for 50 years. For the last several years I had been chasing work in sawmills from Libby to Missoula.

In both cases, mill closure has been the outcome. I returned home to Troy and for the last three years have been employed at the Troy Mine, owned by Revett Minerals mining company. It is a hard and satisfying job.

I am now writing in response to Judge Molloy’s latest decision concerning the Rock Creek Mine.

With today’s current job market we should do everything possible to create good jobs.

I fully understand the concerns of some environmental groups. We all want to preserve a clean environment. In this country, with our ability to apply science and technology to the industry of mining, it is fully possible to achieve jobs and a clean environment.

Moreover, our world needs these resources and if we do not provide them here, then other countries will. Some of these “other” countries are not as concerned with the environmental issues.

There are Montanans who are more than willing to work, and would much rather have a job than an unemployment check. It is time we embrace jobs here in America.

We have already lost the timber industry in Lincoln County. It is time for Montanans to go back to work and the mining industry has and can provide what we are all looking for.

Paul Coon

Troy