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Libby, and the nation, must get back to the basics - resource extraction

| March 1, 2013 1:04 PM

Letter to the Editor,

I came to the Kootenai Valley in 1951, so I am probably considered an old timer. I remember when Libby was a prosperous and self-sufficient community that was sustained by abundant national resources. 

Back in those days, nearly everyone in the community was involved directly or indirectly with lumbering or mining. It remained that way until about 1990, when suddenly the preservationist movement came into prominence and the development of resources began to be curtailed. We can argue the merits, rationale and motivation of those pushing this philosophy, but the fact remains that our community began to die when this ban on resource development began to be implemented. 

In 1988, there was 248 million board feet of timber harvested from the Kootenai National Forest. This level could be harvested indefinitely because the amount of annual growth exceeds that number. Today, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act that Sen. Tester is promoting calls for 30 million board feet of harvest for the Kootenai National Forest. This obviously will not sustain our community, so the question must be asked: Just what do our nation’s planners have in mind for those of us who live here?

Similar restraints and obstacles have been placed by state and national agencies on the efforts to get the Rock Creek and Montanore mines permitted and put into production. 

Common sense tells us that it should not take 10 years to investigate a mining application, yet new hoops are constantly being invented for the mining companies to jump through.

I suspect the restraints on resource development have something to do with the agenda of the global elites that seem to be in control of government around the world. Until this agenda is revealed, I can only wonder what it may be. 

With government owning 75 percent of the resources in our area and the determination, apparently, to sit on these resources, the future of our community is in question. 

— Bill Payne

Libby