Dear Gary,

The recent announcement by Canadian owned Kinross Gold Corporation to withdraw from mining exploration in Jackson Creek Roadless Area sounded to me like whining. Not only that, but they got the response they were looking for, Editorials that accuse the Forest Service of not being soft enough on them. So, people think they will take their toys, jobs and “gifts to the community” and, with no mention of their environmental record, go slinking back to Toronto. Don’t worry, that won’t happen.

If I thought it was true, I would say good riddance! But I know better. If one read the Kinross letter to the USFS, you would see that they say they are withdrawing from THIS proposal. They leave the door wide open. So open, they forgot to tell us about their Toroda Creek exploration proposal!

Don’t get me wrong, this company gave our Okanogan and Ferry County Community many “good paying” jobs. How many more jobs were made by trying to get this company to comply with clean water laws?

The Kinross Community Relations team will tell you how much they have contributed to our community. They don’t tell you about what damage they are doing to our water, nor how much money they sack away in Toronto Banks.

The Buckhorn Mine and its potential offspring will create problems in the future. Most industrial mines of this size do. Canadian-owned Kinross has been fined for failure to comply with clean water laws for years. I think we can expect to have years and years of those “good paying jobs” cleaning up Buckhorn so hopefully our children and grandchildren may once again drink the water there.

Kinross has taken over $1.5 billion worth of our gold. Going back to Toronto, their corporate executives will laugh all the way to the bank. The 1872 Mining Law still allows the sale of public land for $5 per acre. This Canadian corporation paid the taxpayers all of $800 for the 154 acres of the Okanogan National Forest, purchased in 2006 by invoking that law. They have not paid a penny in royalties to us. Yet they continually whine about our laws being too hard on them.

I read where Nevada Senator Harry Reid, a diehard supporter of the 1872 Mining Law, sold 110 acres for $1.7 Million to a mining company. He should have sold it for $5 an acre. With this new proposal for Toroda Creek, perhaps Joel Kretz may have the opportunity to sell his homestead for $5 per acre to Kinross….

Buffalo Mazzetti

Tonasket