In February 2016, the Methow Headwaters Campaign was launched to ensure protection for the unique way of life in the Methow Valley. We held a public campaign launch at our community Red Barn, and with 300 of our neighbors and friends celebrated all the things that make this place too special to mine. We hosted a panel of community leaders and business owners who stood up in front of the crowd expressing their concerns about how an industrial-scale copper mine would negatively impact their family businesses, from the local country store to the nearby farm, the artisan coffee roaster and the neighborhood bike store—a true showing of local support if I’ve ever seen one! We had a long-time rancher stand up and express concerns about the inevitability of increased truck traffic on our two-lane highway through town, the infrastructure required for processing facilities and the new roads that would have to be built through the national forests where we grouse hunt and trail run, saying the valley’s “quality of life would cease to exist” if a mine were allowed to operate.

Do we want to risk the inevitable pollution of our deep and clean aquifer and drinking water if and when a toxic spill happens while copper and gold are being extracted less than one mile from the Mazama Store, the same store where we all gather on Friday nights to share brats with friends after a day of climbing at Fun Rock or Goat Wall? Over 2,000 individuals, 135 local business leaders and 30 local, regional and national organizations have said no. They don’t believe the new jobs an industrial-scale mine would potentially bring are worth the long-term risks to our thriving rural economy and bucolic mountain town.