Let mining begin

To the editor:

As someone that has been a strong advocate for the mines in northwest Montana to start, the latest move by our own state government to obstruct their development has me hopping mad!

Doesn’t our state want to see an area that frequently has the highest unemployment rate in the state have some economic opportunity? Does our Governor really believe that Hecla, a company that has been around for over a 100 years is a bad company?

I, for one, believe that current laws and regulations have more than adequately responded to the days of speculative mining practices that have left tax payers holding the bag. We now have bonding requirements that are frequently reviewed, and environmental analysis that looks not only to potential impacts in the short term, but also long after the mining has stopped.

The Montanore and Rock Creek projects have been under environmental analysis for decades! Just when they are about to be constructed by one of the most responsible mining companies in the world, we have our state government working with the groups that file frivolous lawsuits in hopes of preventing our region the good paying jobs we have long been awaiting. How ridiculous!

—Charlotte Woods,

Libby