The business decision made by Tri-State Generation and Transmission to shut down Unit 1 at Craig Station by 2025 makes it incredibly important for the community to rally behind not only Tri-State, but also diversifying our economy.

It’s important to understand that Tri-State had to make a decision based on a number of factors, including deciding if the cost to retrofit Unit 1 with clean energy standards outweighed the cost to shut it down. That’s a business conclusion that had to be made, and we’re sure Tri-State didn’t make the decision without a great deal of research and thought.

At 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15, Tri-State will host a community meeting at Moffat County High School auditorium to talk about what’s next with the power plant and what it all means.

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We encourage everyone to attend and get behind Craig Station the way we did when Colowyo was at risk of closing last year.

As Craig and Moffat County work to branch out of the energy industry and bring new opportunities to our economy, we should be supportive of such efforts.

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As we have said before, we — as a community — are what we believe we are, meaning we must say, “We’re going to survive!”

During Labor Day weekend, two young boys went missing in Wilderness Ranch in Moffat County. Luckily, the boys were found after 27 grueling hours in the woods.

The Craig Daily Press sat down with the boys and their family the day after they were found.

The father of the eldest child said the only way they got through it was with faith.

“Faith is much stronger than fear,” he said.

The family credits its faith in God and faith that the boys would be OK for the wonderful outcome to a situation that might have ended tragically.

We, too, as residents of Moffat County, need to take the same approach. Cling to faith, not fear.

Let’s have faith that things are going to work out. We have nine years before Unit 1 closes. That’s a lot of time.

Also, good for our community and government officials for having already begun working to diversity our economy before this news struck.

It’s no secret that coal production has drastically declined through the years.

According to Yampa Valley Data Partners, year-to-date coal production in June was down in Moffat County by 27.4 percent, in Rio Blanco County by 53.9 percent and in Routt County by 15.8 percent.

As you can see, production is down across the board.

This brings to light the fact that diversification is needed, not only because of WildEarth Guardians, but also because of economic indicators in the coal industry.

We hope to see you at Thursday’s meeting.