In a busy day in Washington D.C. last week, our Congresswoman Harriett Hageman found time for Lincoln County.

She came out of a meeting and headed to another meeting, but first stepped into a room to visit with Lincoln County Commissioner Kent Connelly, Kemmerer Mayor Bill Thek, Diamondville Mayor Clint Bowen, State Rep. Scott Heiner and myself. We were based at the Lincoln County Court House in Kemmerer.

The topic: Kemmerer Operations, the coal mine in Kemmerer. This is a Lincoln County business sustaining 224 individuals and their families, providing a $28.4 million payroll to this county and southwest Wyoming, and providing a local and tax base of $11.3 million. Can that be replaced? Do we have an obligation to our Lincoln County families?

Look at those numbers! That’s why we were visiting with Congresswoman Hageman. While we welcome some of the new technology to a changing Wyoming energy picture, we don’t want to forget the industry that employs our people, sustains our local economies and has built countless new schools, including three elementaries in Star Valley.

Do we turn our backs on a part of economy that continues to deliver? The message from our commissioner, mayors and legislators — let’s find a solution and Congresswoman Hageman is willing to work with us and find answers. I am impressed with her drive to take care of Wyoming people.

I found that to be the case again today, Tuesday, April 11, 2023 as I sit here in the Gillette Camplex Center with members of the coal based industry, some from Wyoming and some from across the nation.

We’re finding solutions to keep this important part of Wyoming’s mineral based economy moving forward. We are reviewing an industry that has done so much for Wyoming. And guess, who just walked in to speak? Our Congresswoman, Harriett Hageman! She made the trip to help us find solutions to support our families, our communities, our schools, and the state’s economy as a whole.