The U-S Forest Service got public input Tuesday night in Saint Paul on its plan to withdraw mineral leases in northern Minnesota, but Iron Range groups boycotted the meeting, calling it a charade that allows mining critics to stuff the comment box. Opponents warn proposed copper-nickel mining will pollute the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, but Lory Fedo with the Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce says,”It’s safer than anywhere else in the world and I have the utmost confidence in the people who live here, who know mining, who understand it, who are brilliant.” Fedo adds, “We just wish the rest of the state would understand that we do know what’s best for us. We do want to do it the right way, and we are doing everything that we need to do to make sure that we have jobs in the future.”
Iron Rangers plan to be out in force for a hearing next week (7/25) in Virginia, Minnesota.
More in this interview with Fedo: