Borderland has the ears of its two state representatives.

It’s a relationship the state officials can be proud of and our community should be thankful for.

Rep. Tom Anzelc and Sen. Tom Saxhaug visited with local leaders this week to find out what’s important to Borderland as they prepare for the upcoming 2008 Legislature.

By meeting with city and county leaders, nursing home and school officials, among others, they gain an understanding of the issues that are important in our lives as well as the challenges we face in our efforts to create a healthy, stable economy here.

It’s this face-to-face relationship that can help them help us.

The Legislature doesn’t meet until February, but already “the two Toms,” as some people have referred to them, are discussing with area leaders the difficulties we face in developing much of the property in Koochiching County. And they’re taking action by working together to draft options that could provide reasonable, rational relief to the requirements put into place by the state’s Wetland Conservation Act.

In addition, the two representatives are not only hearing about the importance of two projects that will rely on the approval of state bonding money to move forward, but considering how to enlist the support of their colleagues. The county’s Renewable Energy Clean Air Project would use a process called plasma gasification to turn garbage, wood biomass and other waste into energy and valuable byproducts. The Voyageur History Center and National Park Service Headquarters would develop city-owned land not now in use along the Rainy River into an inviting place for residents and visitors alike, would retain more than 50 jobs, and spur spin-off commercial development of adjacent land.

Clearly, the relationship a community has with its state and federal elected leaders is a valuable one. The two Toms appear to be listening closely to a community that has a lot to say.