OUR NATURAL RESOURCES SHOULD BE UTILIZED WISELY

There is no question that concerns in this country and around the world about the environment and the need to use the planet's resources wisely have paid major dividends over the years. But when the environmentalists become preservationists, they start favoring outlandish protection that prohibits the use of vast resources.

Two current examples are close by. One has to do with mining in the mineral-rich hills of the Missouri Ozarks. The other concerns logging in the Shawnee National Forest of Southern Illinois.

For decades, the mining of lead in Ozarks was big business. The area was the world's leading supplier of lead. Thousands of jobs depended on lead mining. Then a number of factors -- production costs and environmental concerns among them -- pretty much put an end to the big-time mining operations.

Left behind were manmade mountains of mining wastes, along with a checkered record of pollution and tailings with high lead content that may be contributing to higher-than-normal lead in the blood of children who live in the mining areas.

Environmental groups are using this background to oppose any attempts at future mining on public lands, particularly state and national forests in southern Missouri. In spite of strong support from state senators, mining experts and others, a politically motivated conservation commission recently deadlocked on a request to do mining exploration in some state forests. Two lead-mining companies withdrew their plans after it was certain they would be rejected because of pressure from the environmentalists.

In Southern Illinois, environmental zealots have been working hard to keep logging operations out of the Shawnee National Forest. Expensive lawsuits have been waged, driving up the potential costs of making good use of timber reserves that are held in trust by the U.S. Forest Service.

While public lands give government the final say in how resources are exploited, the simple fact remains that national and state forests were never intended to be preserved. Instead, they were to employ good management skills of valuable assets. And the mining operations of the past need not occur again. Companies seeking ore can still make a profit while minding environmental Ps and Qs.

Government agencies, like conservation commissions and federal courts, which thwart the legitimate use of natural resources because of environmental pressure often can't see the trees for the thicket of rash claims by those who would lock away potential jobs and economic development.