NC0000353_Comments_20190503 (3)

l
We owe it to ourselves d
to protect the environment
To the editor:
I've always been one to believe there has to be. t
a balance in how we perceive and manage the t
0 natural world.Our ancestors,who carved an t
,g existence out of the harsh mountain wilderness, E
understood this balance very well;they had to to s
survive. r
Our home here in Mitchell County is no ex-
ception when it comes to this delicate balance r
?_ of using the natural resources we have to our a
is benefit while at the same time instilling and pro- r
moting reasonable efforts toward conservation, C
to especially when it comes to our water.
lh Clean water is quickly becoming a fading com-
modity worldwide,and even the purest of moun-
tain springs haven't been able to truly escape the
effects of man with the now widespread effects
of acid rain and deforestation.I believe we have
forgotten what our ancestors knew about natural
resource management—you had to take care
of the resources you use to ensure them for the r
E future rather than to freely exploit them and ex- r
p pect them to keep giving without consequence. t
A With edean water being arguably the most pre- l'
Fcious resource we have,it is critical everything
is done to protect our water quality.The North
Toe River watershed is a prime example of how
a river can be brought back from the brink and s
i allowed to heal from years of abuse and exploita-
tion in the form of agricultural runoff and min-
ing pollution.The river is far better than it was I
i 50 years ago.It is,however,far from a thriving 9
aquatic ecosystem.Nature needs time to heal
from the effects of pollution,and that process a
can be set back immensely if we,as a communi-
ty,do not take steps to protect it. t
A public hearing is May 2 at the Mitchell k
County Senior Center about the renewal of
mining permits that allow for treated water t used in the various mining operations in Avery
and Mitchell counties to be discharged into the p
North Toe River.What this means is we have
a chance as a community to not only educate
i ourselves about this process and why it's done
but also ensure every effort is made to keep pol- ]
�y lutants out of our waterways that could affect the
health of aquatic wildlife and ourselves,
This,again,goes back to the balance I men- n
tioned that we seemed to have lost as a society in 1i
general with nature.To be clear,I am in no way t
against mining.My ancestors used to work in d
h the mica mines here for years in Mitchell -
Coun-ty-Without that resource,our economy and
workforce would be all but nonexistent.There h
tg is no reason we shouldn't ensure the needs of f
resource extraction coincide with what is best for v
the North Toe River and our environment here
in Mitchell County.We owe that to ourselves
and to the future generations of those who call
Mitchell County home,to protect its natural re-. h
n sources and wild places to the best of our ability.
Ethan Hollifieid s,
Spruce Pine