Dear Editor and Readers,

The short-term rental situation in our area reminds me of the first gold rush in the 1860s. The early prospectors came in droves, staking mining claims, frantically digging up the land and cutting down the forests to shore up their mines all in the hopes of finding riches beyond their wildest dreams. There was a short boom (15-20 years for Nevadaville, which once had a population of over 4,000) followed by a bust that left behind ghost towns and contaminated land. Those early prospectors are gone now buried in the old cemeteries with worn headstones, but their legacy persists in the arsenic and lead in our waters and the mine tailings that are still blowing in the wind.

The question today is whether we will recognize and protect the real wealth in our area or leave to the next generation the consequences of our poor handling of this current gold rush. Will we protect our working watersheds and sources of clean water from careless depletion? Will we protect our forests from overuse and degradation? Will we tear apart our communities over a few bucks for a few individuals?

The real wealth of our area is our resilient people and the livable land and sources of clean water that we will pass on to future generations. We have an obligation to those who come after us to get this right, so we don’t go through another boom-and-bust cycle with catastrophic consequences. Now is the time for environmentally conscious actions from all of us to preserve and protect the true riches and wealth in our area that we all share in common.

Wes Isenhart

Black Hawk