LETTER: Save environment to create jobs

To the Telegram:

The advocates for the GTAC mine claim it will create jobs and boost the economy. It is all about jobs.

Well, here are some facts on jobs and the Wisconsin economy that should alter the picture.

The Outdoor Industry Association produced a national report on the economic value of outdoor recreation. They say outdoor recreation in Wisconsin generates $11.9 billion in consumer spending, 142,000 in direct Wisconsin jobs, $3.6 billion in wages and salaries and $844 million in state and local tax revenue. And 60 percent of Wisconsin residents participate in outdoor recreation each year.

See the report at http://www.outdoorindustry.org/advocacy/recreation/economy.html.

I doubt any of these recreation-minded Wisconsin citizens will come to the Northland to hike, snowmobile or fish anywhere near an open pit mine. Nor will they enjoy the polluted rivers affected by this dirty mining operation.

Wisconsin needs to ensure that its economic activities are a win-win for everybody and not just a win for an out of state mining company and a loss for the rest of us.

Valerie Kozlovsky,

Maple

Tags: opinion, letters