Re “Appalachia’s Agony” (editorial, March 16)

To the Editor:

On a statewide basis, surface mining and mountaintop mining methods account for over 40 percent of our state’s total tonnage produced on an annual basis. In several regions, it represents over 75 percent of all mining and thus all mining revenues. Surface mining and mountaintop mining are extremely important to our energy portfolio and our state’s financial stability.

You criticize the initial impacts of the extractive phase, that is, blasting or other earth-moving activity. But you do not mention the restoration phase of mining, nor the development that follows the extractive process.

Most of the mine sites are returned to a higher and better use, or at a minimum to their original approximate contour. Many of the sites are reforested with wildlife habitat incorporated into the final plan, and a number of the former mine sites have been reconfigured by the mining company to accommodate residential, industrial or recreational use.

Our mine managers and miners devote great attention to environmental stewardship. They not only work the land, they also hunt and enjoy the land.