Dear editor:
As if Wyoming hasn’t suffered enough from regulatory assault recently - think what the BLM is trying to do in the Southwest or the Powder River Basin - we’re facing yet another disastrous potential outcome.
This time it’s the Office of Surface Mining, which singlehandedly has the power to extend or terminate the life of our coal mines, and the vital middle class jobs they create.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that evaluates several alternatives for Spring Creek Mine’s future, many of which would drastically limit coal production.
This could severely affect Wyoming workers, local businesses, and entire counties while establishing a terrible precedent for future mining activity across America.
While the Spring Creek Mine is just over the border in Montana, just about all of its 265 full-time miners live in Wyoming, meaning they put their kids in our schools, spend their money in Wyoming businesses, and pay taxes that benefit our communities.
In 2023 alone, the mine spent $106 million on local goods and services, supporting our small businesses and communities.
Extractive industries are the last source of quality, middle class jobs in America - where a kid can come out of high school and truly earn a living wage and feel a sense of dignity and economic self empowerment - and we must protect them at all costs.
I cannot emphasize this enough, these aren’t nameless, faceless people. These are our friends, neighbors, and family. These are people who want nothing more than what any average person wants - to provide for themselves and their families knowing they’re contributing to the community and to society.
To go down a path where the future of these jobs is highly uncertain is an outcome we cannot accept. We must fight back and force these bureaucrats to understand that we cannot afford to lose our fellow community members.
The best path forward is for OSMRE to select the Proposed Action alternative, which would allow the mine to continue extracting coal from the entirety of its federal lease over the next 15 years. This option will ensure the mine remains viable, preserving jobs and economic benefits for Wyoming residents, and keeping the region’s economy strong.
I encourage all Wyoming residents to submit public comments to OSMRE in support of the Proposed Action alternative. Comments can be emailed to SCM_LBA1_EIS@wwcengineering.com.
The deadline for comments is October 22nd. Let’s stand together to protect these jobs and our way of life.
Sincerely,
Rep. Cyrus Western
House District 51
