Action Alert: The Time to Save Bristol Bay is Here!

Written by: Perk Perkins

“The break we’ve been looking for is here!” — Perk Perkins, CEO, The Orvis Company

We’ve just learned the EPA plans to assess the Bristol Bay watershed to understand how future large-scale development may affect water quality and Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery. This is a pivotal step toward protecting this pristine region from the proposed Pebble Mine. Frankly, it’s a step that may not have happened if not for partners like TU and The Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska, and sportsmen and women such as yourselves working non-stop to help protect the area.

Part of the EPA’s process is to get public input. We encourage you to click the TAKE ACTION image below to let the EPA know the value you place on the wild resources of this magnificent region. It takes all of thirty seconds to help protect a national treasure forever.

 

Bristol Bay is:
• A 40,000-square mile watershed with nine major rivers
• Home of the world’s largest sockeye salmon run (30-60 million spawning a year)
• Host to one of North America’s leading king salmon and trophy rainbow trout populations
• The center of a $450 million-a-year fishing industry
• One of the last untouched areas on the planet

Pebble Mine would:
• Create an open-pit mine up to two miles wide and 1,700 feet deep
• Dig an underground mine of a similar scale
• Dump up to 10 billion tons of perpetually toxic mine waste in the heart of the Bristol Bay watershed
• Be operated by and profit two foreign companies with a poor environmental record
• Potentially destroy salmon runs, other fishes, habitat, and wildlife of this pristine region

 

The world’s largest sockeye salmon population is threatened by the proposed mine. Photo by Barry and Cathy Beck

Waste water from exploratory drilling runs out of pipe near a headwater tributary. Photo by Erin McKittrick

Exploratory drilling at headwaters. Helicopters fly in and out all day long to bring supplies. Photo by Erin McKittrick

A rainbow trout taken from the Bristol Bay watershed. Photo by Tom Evenson

Without sockeye salmon, the entire Bristol bay ecosystem, including the famed brown bears, would collapse. Photo by Allyson Miller

Waste water from mining exploration runs directly into the headwaters of a Bristol bay tributary. Photo by Erin McKittrick