Keep mine hidden from view

After hearing and reading of the proposed bentonite pit mine along Highway 120 north of Thermopolis, we wanted to add our voices to last week’s letters by Pete Weisbeck and Sherry Barber in opposition to that proposal.

Route 120 from Cody into and through Thermopolis is one of the more beautiful scenic connections in the state. Residents and tourists travel that road year round.

The economy of Thermopolis depends on those who travel through, as well as those who come to the city for its hot springs, dinosaur museum, equine events, and high school sports. The scenic nature of the northern entrance is a major contributing factor to the city’s appeal. Allowing a pit mine along that route would significantly disrupt the unique beauty of that landscape, to say nothing of the added distraction caused by traffic of heavy industrial vehicles.

The residents who have developed property along that route have committed time and money to enhance their homes and property in ways that contribute greatly to the larger extended community.

It would be a shame to destroy the aesthetic and property value of their financial investment, as well as their time and hard work. We’d hope that the Bureau of Land Management would be more sensitive to the efforts of its neighbors as they do their part in contributing to the health and viability of Wyoming’s land.

This is not just a tourist issue. A community derives identity and character, to a large extent, from the face of the land that surrounds it. Highway 120 as it takes those long graceful curves down into Thermopolis is one of the town’s most inviting and enduring features. Those few miles help, in a major way, to define our home.

We are strongly opposed to this proposed mine.