Start with common sense

First off… that reference to Dickie Brown as Klinger from the TV show MASH by forester Jeff Burch at the Mt. Crested Butte mine meeting last week… that was funny. Lighten up people.
But on the main point, here’s what I heard more than once at the Forest Service-sponsored meetings on the mine. The Forest Service cannot categorically deny anyone a Plan of Operations for mining activities on public lands. But I didn’t hear the Forest Service representatives say they had to categorically approve a proposed Plan of Operations, either.
A friend described the Wednesday meeting in Mt. Crested Butte as “sobering.” Still, information that came from the meeting presents opportunity. There may be opportunity in trying to get the agency to look at the project as a whole and putting appropriate restrictions on the plan. Instead of picking up one crumb at a time, the whole cookie should be considered.
The agency seemed a bit off the mark when pressed by High Country Citizens’ Alliance president Billy Rankin that they had promised to look at everything as a whole instead of in pieces. While I understand that information the baseline studies produces will help with the big picture, there are a lot of pieces from this puzzle floating around right now.
There is a water quality issue with Coal Creek right now. I cannot overstate my dissatisfaction in the U.S. Energy response when questioned about the results of state tests showing huge spikes in heavy metals going into parts of Coal Creek. The right answer from U.S. Energy CEO Keith Larsen is not pushing off obligations and responsibilities, but rather standing up and saying unequivocally that the company would try to be a partner with the community and find out with the help of the town how to solve any pollution issues. Alas, that’s not where Keith went and that is disappointing. But it is a piece of the puzzle. It is a crumb.
Then there’s the drift issue. The state is allowing a prospecting drift, or tunnel, that will result in piles of waste rock that could ultimately pollute the water in the basin even more. They want to start that drift this summer. That should be a piece of the puzzle. It is another important crumb.
What appears to be a quick NEPA review of the proposed baseline studies through the Environmental Assessment process is another piece of the puzzle. The mining company would like those studies to ideally take place this coming summer. When U.S. Energy’s Fred Kraft wouldn’t even venture an approximate guess of the number of helicopter trips needed as part of the baseline studies, that should be a red flag to the Forest Service that more finite information is needed before even considering approval for the tests.
The helicopter issue appears to be a major concern for people in the tourist town of Crested Butte. It seems a bit rough to be flying what could be multiple helicopter trips every day starting July 1, which is the start of the six busiest weeks of the year. I like Jeff Deutsch’s suggestion to restrict the flights and let them fly moderately in June and not at all between July 1 and August 15. Protection of the environment, including the human environment, seems reasonable.
So there are some things the Forest Service can do and they should do them. They shouldn’t make a decision in a vacuum. If there is water pollution in Coal Creek from Mt. Emmons, if a new prospecting tunnel and its impacts are part of the greater but immediate plan that should all be considered as part of the process. That just makes common sense.
Another thing to take into consideration… if the Forest Service cannot ultimately refuse a PoO outright, there are other agencies that have permitting power as well and concerned citizens should be aware. The state, the county and the town of Crested Butte all have some legitimate regulating authority over these proposals.
Crumbs seem to again be falling from the cookie that is a proposed mine a few miles from Crested Butte. While I again reiterate that I wish it were not necessary to talk at all about this issue, it appears we are at the new start of a long process… and putting common sense to work and looking at the big picture is the least everyone involved should be required to do.