Locals are looking to the state government for help that has been slow to come from Olympia.

Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed changes to state growth management rules that would have relaxed restrictions on development in rural Washington. A long-sought rewrite of the state’s business tax system has not materialized. The $8.7 billion tax cut passed in 2013 to appease Boeing is a particular sore spot.

Olympia makes laws tailored to urbanizing communities in Puget Sound, Ferry County leaders argue, not struggling rural communities outside the metropolitan belt.

“Seattle policies do not work here,” said State Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber, R-Republic.

Two of Ferry County’s biggest obstacles to economic development are the poor broadband access and cellphone coverage.

Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, introduced a bill meant to tackle the so-called “last-mile” problem — linking homes, businesses and schools to telecommunications infrastructure. DeBolt proposed a $300 million fund to upgrade rural broadband services. The bill died after legislators could not agree on where to dig up the money and how to allocate it. Ferry County legislators hope the bill will be revived in 2019.

Ferry County’s legislators also want to change the business and occupation taxes to lighten the tax burden on small rural businesses, which are essentially the only kind that Ferry County can support. For years, Republicans and Democrats have complained the B&O taxes — a tax on a business’ gross receipts — hurt small businesses because gross receipts are much larger than the profits. Small businesses are essentially all Ferry County can support.

But modifying B&O taxes is extremely complicated. Legislators who criticize how B&O taxes are set up also punt on the work to change them.

Finally, Short managed to get a bill through both the Senate and House in the 2018 session that would have loosened up Growth Management Act requirements for Washington’s rural counties, such as Ferry and Okanogan. Short contended the act’s current land use requirements are less relevant to rural counties than their densely populated counterparts. This impedes rural economic development efforts by limiting rural counties’ abilities to attract and approve needed new businesses, she contended.

However, Inslee vetoed most of the bill’s breaks that would have gone to rural counties. “The governor gutted the bill,” Short said.

Tom Johnson waits to rob a gold shipment during Prospector Days in Republic.

As Ferry County boosters pin their future on a new mine, work is underway at Buckhorn to deal with that mine’s environmental legacy.

During the mine’s operations, Buckhorn’s owners were repeatedly cited for violating state environmental rules. Regulators worry contaminated water from the mine could carry heavy metals to nearby streams. As recently as August, investigators have found higher-than-allowed levels of pollutants, including arsenic, in monitoring wells near Buckhorn.

“The contamination has been going on since the mine began operating,” said David Kliegman, executive director of the Okanogan Highland Alliance, a local mining watchdog organization.

State environmental regulators have $34.9 million provided by the mine owner to fund restoration at the site. Planned improvements include a new system to treat contaminated water from the mine.

Kliegman criticized the state for not pushing Kinross enough, especially on identifying the path contaminants take off the site.

“The company is doing a good job of reclaiming the surface of the mine,” Kliegman said. “But the contaminants in the ground water, that’s the problem.”

Ferry County’s best hope for renewal lies with Adamera.

Adamera, which employs 10 to 20 people in the area, bought mineral rights to potentially lucrative land in Ferry County. The company doesn’t actually do the mining. Instead, it hunts for gold strikes large enough to make mining profitable and, if any are found, sells its mineral rights to a mine operator.

Adamera prospectors have found gold concentrations that are mineable, at least in theory.

Mining companies want a few grams of gold in each ton of ore that is mined. At least 3 grams of gold per metric ton of ore are the minimum needed to making gold mining profitable. So far, Adamera has found gold concentrations as high as 19.4 grams of gold per metric ton of ore, though the size of the deposit remains unknown.

The modern-day prospectors study old maps and the rocks on the surface. They use a low-flying helicopter with a magnetometer hanging beneath it to hunt for metals. Drills collect ore samples from deep beneath the ground to be analyzed in labs. And they shock the earth.

One of Eich’s job is to send electrical currents through the earth to poles pounded into the ground 25 meters and 50 meters apart. A charge zaps into the ground to build up like in a capacitor; Adamera workers measure how long the charge holds to create a better picture of what is beneath the surface.

“It’s the ultimate detective work to see what is happening here. It’s really complicated,” company owner Kolebaba said.

“It’s high-risk, high-reward,” Eich said, "and the reward is huge.”