I do now and will continue to feed my family from the paychecks of the mining industry. I was lucky to be able to vote against I-197 (I think) and would do so again today if given the chance.

I don't believe, " to see the future, we need only to look to the past." I remain proud of the companies I have worked for and the sound environmental principal they embrace. The cyanide ban does not make the Berkley Pit go away and as easy as it is to point to the major problems it washes away the good that industry did to build the state of Montana and many others. John, you and I have walked the streams of Montana and have seen the obvious signs of over grazing and watering of cattle to the waters of the state; should we ban beef production?

Guys, sound environmental engineering coupled with sound planning allows some projects to move forward and some to be left on the cutting room floor, but just blanket banning of proven technique only leads to further dependence on others to provide what we need . Proper bonding of projects will not cure all problems, but will help to mitigate impacts at mine closure. Lastly for me, oversight and input on all proposals is crucial. There are folks that will be against everything all the time and that gets us nowhere; I do believe sound science rather than fear should dictate whether each individual project gets a go ahead.

Please don't take this as a lecture as it is not meant in that spirit, I'm just giving my two cents before I try to figure out what to do with that new spey rod my wife got me for Valentines Day.