“Mining is like a search-and-destroy mission” –Stewart Udall

Bristol Bay, Alaska is home to the largest wild salmon run on earth. And for now, Bristol Bay and the more than 60 million salmon that return here yearly are safe.

For reference, Bristol Bay is in southwest Alaska, about 200 miles from Anchorage, fueling roughly 20,000 jobs nationwide and Alaska’s $1.5 billion fishing economy. All five species of Pacific salmon spawn here which supports the nearby ecosystem from brown bears and eagles to human industry and culture. But Bristol Bay’s effects are bigger than that: this region produces wild salmon for the entire world. The fishing season more than doubles Bristol Bay’s population and the salmon are entirely wild meaning no hatchery fish are raised or released into the watershed. Pair commercial fishing with sport-fishing and Bristol Bay is a Mecca for fish. It is essentially the “lifeblood for Alaskan Native cultures.” But, over three decades ago, a group of geologist hit the jackpot when they discovered the largest copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry deposit in the world, currently known as Pebble Mine.

Now, Northern Dynasty Minerals, an Ltd. company, is behind the Pebble Mine Project which “entailed mining a pit over a mile long, a mile wide and 200 meters deep, destroying nearly 3,500 acres of wetlands, lakes, and ponds and 81 miles of salmon streams.”  In order for this “project” to get the green light to proceed, Pebble Mine Project needed various permits to be approved by a handful of different government agencies. If approved, the Pebble Mine Project would have turned Alaska’s salmon lifeblood into a bloodshed.

Bristol Bay is worth fighting for. In 2018 alone, Bristol Bay harvested 219 million pounds on Sockeye Salmon whereas the rest of Alaska, lower-48 states, Canada, Japan and Russia combined harvested only 162 million pounds of Sockeye Salmon. Pebble Mine would have caused irreversible damage to the Bristol Bay ecosystem. That’s right . . . permanent destruction of this massive salmon ecosystem.

Pebble Mine executives proposed only 20 years’ worth of mining to the federal government, but in reality, had intentions to mine for up to 180 years. Pebble Mine executives were caught on tape saying “Once you have something like this in production, why would you want to stop?” Lying to the federal government and trying to destroy an ecosystem…the drama!!

In a win for us all, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit to the Pebble Mine Project likely ruling a death sentence to the project. Pebble Mine executives were caught red-handed and gold-less.

This a major victory for Bristol Bay! But, it is critical that we do not let this win allow us to get comfy and cozy, and enter into an Alaskan Salmon-induced food coma. The push for permanent protections for Bristol Bay persists.

Show some support as we continue pursuing a future in Bristol Bay that protects clean water, healthy habitat, and the most productive wild sockeye run in the world.