GUEST POST by Darr Moon (Custer County, Idaho) —
Dear Patriots,
The talk of a National Monument for Central Idaho's Boulder-White Clouds area is gaining newsprint space in our local rag, The Challis Messenger. Every Idahoan should take notice as the consequence of a National Monument will affect us all. The one sided debate needs to be met with serious challenge as the Monument agenda is more than preservationist ideology. The premise of my argument is that the power of the Presidency can over-ride the protections given the States by simply signing away State sovereignty with the stroke of a pen. The environmental/preservationists are providing cover for this diabolical plot to slice away more of Idaho in a permanent zone of economic isolation. The gambit is being sold as some economic boon via recreation, but the underlying thesis is for the rich and powerful to accumulate more while average Joe sinks to the bottom in an economic abyss. The truths we are to believe in according to the green revolution are merely examples of class warfare and economic bigotry that will send Idahoan to the poor house. Please read below and respond. I'm sending this to the Challis Messenger in hopes that it will be printed. I suggest you pick up paper and pen and do the same.
In Liberty,
Darr
The Billionaire Boys Club
The modest economic boost proponents of the Boulder-White Clouds National Monument predict is paltry comfort to those of us in Custer County who have seen what devastation has been wrought by the billionaire preservationist elite. The hypocrisy of this preservation movement has been wrapped around the fact that the Boulder-White Clouds hold vast wealth in metal resources that could bring prosperity to our county, state and nation. This fact has not gone unnoticed by preservationist who continue to stack their high tech alloy made Lear Jets in Sun Valley like you or I might stack cord wood. The whole notion that we should lock up Central Idaho is not new. It began with a large high grade discovery molybdenum in the White Clouds back in the 1970's. At the time I was interested in the discovery having a background in mining which subsequently lead me to seek a degree in Geological Engineering. The ASARCO geologists whom I knew intersected molybdenum 10 times greater in grade than which is currently being mined and milled at Thompson Creek. This discovery lead to a whirlwind effort to lock out the mining company by ushering in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The economic benefit to this new national recreation area was touted while the lay to waste practice of strip mining vilified. Today Stanley is good example of what economic isolation under cover of environmental stewardship has brought. Only rich landowners with their cadre of imported handmaids enjoy the scenic vistas from their select high dollar perches. The rest pass through the valley for their two week annual wilderness experience, mostly within 50 yards of Highway 75, and then leave back to their mundane urban lifestyles. The once bustling town of recreational, mining and ranching interests is solely kept afloat by crafts fairs and hacky sack tournaments today. Even the once nationally touted 'Stanley Stomp' is but a memory of better days gone by.
More devastating than the SNRA will be a National Monument, a Monument dedicated to the selfish interest of those born with silver spoons. The National Monument debate comes as its pending resource lockout will put Custer County on a continued course toward steadily harder economic times. The county's largest employer and tax payer, Thompson Creek Mining, is threatening to close its pit having been the most significant economic engine in our small community for over the last 30 plus years. A mining company detested by environmental groups but one that has continued to be our best hope for stable, high paying jobs and who has added quality of life to many. With the prospect of our historic mining boom days over, a boom supported by a natural abundance of rare and strategic metals, Custer County's economic future looks gloomy.
It is more than economic prosperity at stake though. As hypocrisy reigns supreme in the halls of the politically connected every ounce of precious metal, every pound of rare and strategic metal locked away by this Monument will be mined in some foreign land where little regard for the environment is considered. The withdrawal of these metallic resources ranging from Antimony to Zinc in one of our nation's richest mineral reserves means further exploitation of the third world and Custer County's further isolation from economic sustainability. A bright future though for the Bourgeoisie who will enjoy their own private Idaho in their grandiose homes and shiny BMW's. Let there be no doubt, executive jets will still fly and land in our midst leaving many Idahoans owing their economic existence to polishing boots of the well to do, preparing their meals and putting down their beds.
Little is likely to come from cries for Multiple Use, a now foreign term in federal land management policy or the calls for the feds to leave Idaho completely. The federally occupied territories of Idaho will continue to evolve away from anything Idaho and more to the special interests of those with power and money beyond our borders. Such is the trend in a world where the grit and determination of the individual, those who actually won the West, is lost to political activist where ends justify their means. A simple stroke of the Presidents pen will puts us all away, forgotten and soon erased from the historical landscape. No longer will the rights of the minority be protected from the misdirected ambitions of the majority in a land where our fathers once lived free.
Dear Patriots,
The talk of a National Monument for Central Idaho's Boulder-White Clouds area is gaining newsprint space in our local rag, The Challis Messenger. Every Idahoan should take notice as the consequence of a National Monument will affect us all. The one sided debate needs to be met with serious challenge as the Monument agenda is more than preservationist ideology. The premise of my argument is that the power of the Presidency can over-ride the protections given the States by simply signing away State sovereignty with the stroke of a pen. The environmental/preservationists are providing cover for this diabolical plot to slice away more of Idaho in a permanent zone of economic isolation. The gambit is being sold as some economic boon via recreation, but the underlying thesis is for the rich and powerful to accumulate more while average Joe sinks to the bottom in an economic abyss. The truths we are to believe in according to the green revolution are merely examples of class warfare and economic bigotry that will send Idahoan to the poor house. Please read below and respond. I'm sending this to the Challis Messenger in hopes that it will be printed. I suggest you pick up paper and pen and do the same.
In Liberty,
Darr
The modest economic boost proponents of the Boulder-White Clouds National Monument predict is paltry comfort to those of us in Custer County who have seen what devastation has been wrought by the billionaire preservationist elite. The hypocrisy of this preservation movement has been wrapped around the fact that the Boulder-White Clouds hold vast wealth in metal resources that could bring prosperity to our county, state and nation. This fact has not gone unnoticed by preservationist who continue to stack their high tech alloy made Lear Jets in Sun Valley like you or I might stack cord wood. The whole notion that we should lock up Central Idaho is not new. It began with a large high grade discovery molybdenum in the White Clouds back in the 1970's. At the time I was interested in the discovery having a background in mining which subsequently lead me to seek a degree in Geological Engineering. The ASARCO geologists whom I knew intersected molybdenum 10 times greater in grade than which is currently being mined and milled at Thompson Creek. This discovery lead to a whirlwind effort to lock out the mining company by ushering in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The economic benefit to this new national recreation area was touted while the lay to waste practice of strip mining vilified. Today Stanley is good example of what economic isolation under cover of environmental stewardship has brought. Only rich landowners with their cadre of imported handmaids enjoy the scenic vistas from their select high dollar perches. The rest pass through the valley for their two week annual wilderness experience, mostly within 50 yards of Highway 75, and then leave back to their mundane urban lifestyles. The once bustling town of recreational, mining and ranching interests is solely kept afloat by crafts fairs and hacky sack tournaments today. Even the once nationally touted 'Stanley Stomp' is but a memory of better days gone by.
More devastating than the SNRA will be a National Monument, a Monument dedicated to the selfish interest of those born with silver spoons. The National Monument debate comes as its pending resource lockout will put Custer County on a continued course toward steadily harder economic times. The county's largest employer and tax payer, Thompson Creek Mining, is threatening to close its pit having been the most significant economic engine in our small community for over the last 30 plus years. A mining company detested by environmental groups but one that has continued to be our best hope for stable, high paying jobs and who has added quality of life to many. With the prospect of our historic mining boom days over, a boom supported by a natural abundance of rare and strategic metals, Custer County's economic future looks gloomy.
It is more than economic prosperity at stake though. As hypocrisy reigns supreme in the halls of the politically connected every ounce of precious metal, every pound of rare and strategic metal locked away by this Monument will be mined in some foreign land where little regard for the environment is considered. The withdrawal of these metallic resources ranging from Antimony to Zinc in one of our nation's richest mineral reserves means further exploitation of the third world and Custer County's further isolation from economic sustainability. A bright future though for the Bourgeoisie who will enjoy their own private Idaho in their grandiose homes and shiny BMW's. Let there be no doubt, executive jets will still fly and land in our midst leaving many Idahoans owing their economic existence to polishing boots of the well to do, preparing their meals and putting down their beds.
Little is likely to come from cries for Multiple Use, a now foreign term in federal land management policy or the calls for the feds to leave Idaho completely. The federally occupied territories of Idaho will continue to evolve away from anything Idaho and more to the special interests of those with power and money beyond our borders. Such is the trend in a world where the grit and determination of the individual, those who actually won the West, is lost to political activist where ends justify their means. A simple stroke of the Presidents pen will puts us all away, forgotten and soon erased from the historical landscape. No longer will the rights of the minority be protected from the misdirected ambitions of the majority in a land where our fathers once lived free.
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