From: Jerry c Heckel <info@midasgoldcomments.com>

Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2020 12:27 PM

To: Support Stibnite; jay.natoli@gmail.com; natalie

Subject: Midas Gold Idaho

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Stibnite Gold Project as part of Midas Gold Idaho's Comment Period. I have been closely following Midas Gold Idaho's plans since they first came into our state, in large part because much of the proposed project will take place on public land. The more I have learned about the project, the more excited I am about the possibilities it will bring into our state.

Salmon have been cut off from miles of high-mountain spawning grounds and rearing habitats since roughly 1938, when the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River (EFSFSR) was diverted around the Yellow Pine Pit. The only way for salmon to reproduce is by stocking them in Meadow Creek, where spawning occurs. We need to do better. As part of Midas Gold's proposal in Alternative Two, the company would design and install a fish passageway to help connect fish to their native spawning grounds for the first time in decades. The passageway would be built using best practices learned from successful examples used around the world. And it would be constructed before mining even starts. Once mining at the Yellow Pine Pit is complete, Midas Gold would begin full restoration of the river, creating a long-term solution for salmon to spawn upstream. In the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the U.S. Forest Service found that removing these historical barriers to migration will help local fish populations by increasing productivity.

For the above reasons and many more, please move forward with alternative 2 of the Stibnite Gold Project as it is important to all Idahoans. The comment period provides plenty of time to read the DEIS and submit comments. Further extensions of the comment period are unnecessary and will needlessly delay the project.

Sincerely,


Name: Jerry C Heckel
Email: Jerryheckel40@msn.com
City: Anchorage
State: AK