Dear Editor:
Your editorial (Sept. 29) said there is broad support for the wilderness bill. Really? What is being proposed is a lock-up of our natural resources so that there will be no mining, no drilling, and no logging. We get to trade in our good-paying natural resource production jobs for low-paying service industry jobs. Instead of miners, drillers and loggers, we get to be waiters, dish washers, and bellboys, and we have the opportunity to serve those wealthy enough to take the time and expense to enjoy the beauty of our lands. No, I do not accept that fate!
We can have both natural resource production and conservation. They are not mutually exclusive activities. And, perhaps with the better-paying jobs we, the residents of this land, can afford to spend a little time in the timbers. This bill is a terrible idea and economic theft by an elitist few.
Charles W. Thompson
Lewis
Via CortezJournal.com