Has anybody else heard about this? What's the story from you folks in AK? The comment period is open until Jan. 5.
Proposed mine could have dreadful impact
By Charlie Meyers
DenverPost.com
Article Last Updated:12/19/2006 09:38:56 PM MST
As the eagle flies, it's approximately 2,500 miles from Colorado to the abundant fishing rivers of Alaska's Bristol Bay, a long cast by any stretch of the imagination.
Yet what is being proposed in this faraway place by Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., with the apparent complicity of the Bureau of Land Management, touches the heartstrings - and fishing lines - of the millions of anglers who have been there, or who hope to someday.
At issue is the planned Pebble Mine, a combined gold, copper and molybdenum excavation touted as the largest open-pit mine on the continent. The location, just north of Lake Iliamna, sets off alarm bells for a significant portion of a drainage that nourishes North America's most prolific salmon populations, along with Alaska's largest rainbow trout.
For anglers, hunters and conservationists, the area represents another battleground in what seems to be serial struggles to balance the resources of our wildest and richest state.
Purely from a fisheries viewpoint, the impact could be monstrous. Bristol Bay, 400 miles southwest of Anchorage, harbors the world's largest commercial wild salmon fishery, a $320 million industry that provides jobs for 12,500 people. Each year, 65,000 visit the area in various wildlife pursuits, mostly for fishing.
At the heart of the conflict is a plan to construct two massive earthen dams to facilitate a daily water usage three times that of Anchorage, a city of 277,000.
Water storage would be diverted from the Koktuli River, a tributary of the Mulchatna, which subsequently feeds the Nushagak - all among the most storied fishing rivers. A second dam would take water from upper Talarik Creek, which feeds Iliamna and, subsequently, the Kvichak River.
High-level maneuvering at both the state and federal level reflects the sort of polarization of interests that characterize Alaska's North Slope oil drilling conflict and doubtlessly serves as precursor to future disputes.
Among the various maneuverings was a proposed action by the Alaska Board of Fisheries to form a fisheries refuge that would have precluded mining. The board instead decided on Dec. 11 to delay this action, instead creating a panel to evaluate any planned protection. Not coincidentally, the board decision echoed the wishes of newly elected Republican governor Sarah Palin, who at least tacitly adopted a wait-and-see posture on the mine.
As one might suppose, the mine threat mobilized conservation groups across the nation.
"Any person or company that takes an action which would diminish this fishery commits a crime against each of us, and against the people and natural resources of Alaska," thundered R.P. Van Gytenbeek, president of the Federation of Fly Fishers.
Meanwhile, BLM presses on with its draft management plan for the area, even as opponents await the recommendation of the three-member fisheries panel. Expect plenty of action in Alaska's legislature as well.
Public input may be sent to the BLM at [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]. Comment deadline is Jan. 5.
Proposed mine could have dreadful impact
By Charlie Meyers
DenverPost.com
Article Last Updated:12/19/2006 09:38:56 PM MST
As the eagle flies, it's approximately 2,500 miles from Colorado to the abundant fishing rivers of Alaska's Bristol Bay, a long cast by any stretch of the imagination.
Yet what is being proposed in this faraway place by Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., with the apparent complicity of the Bureau of Land Management, touches the heartstrings - and fishing lines - of the millions of anglers who have been there, or who hope to someday.
At issue is the planned Pebble Mine, a combined gold, copper and molybdenum excavation touted as the largest open-pit mine on the continent. The location, just north of Lake Iliamna, sets off alarm bells for a significant portion of a drainage that nourishes North America's most prolific salmon populations, along with Alaska's largest rainbow trout.
For anglers, hunters and conservationists, the area represents another battleground in what seems to be serial struggles to balance the resources of our wildest and richest state.
Purely from a fisheries viewpoint, the impact could be monstrous. Bristol Bay, 400 miles southwest of Anchorage, harbors the world's largest commercial wild salmon fishery, a $320 million industry that provides jobs for 12,500 people. Each year, 65,000 visit the area in various wildlife pursuits, mostly for fishing.
At the heart of the conflict is a plan to construct two massive earthen dams to facilitate a daily water usage three times that of Anchorage, a city of 277,000.
Water storage would be diverted from the Koktuli River, a tributary of the Mulchatna, which subsequently feeds the Nushagak - all among the most storied fishing rivers. A second dam would take water from upper Talarik Creek, which feeds Iliamna and, subsequently, the Kvichak River.
High-level maneuvering at both the state and federal level reflects the sort of polarization of interests that characterize Alaska's North Slope oil drilling conflict and doubtlessly serves as precursor to future disputes.
Among the various maneuverings was a proposed action by the Alaska Board of Fisheries to form a fisheries refuge that would have precluded mining. The board instead decided on Dec. 11 to delay this action, instead creating a panel to evaluate any planned protection. Not coincidentally, the board decision echoed the wishes of newly elected Republican governor Sarah Palin, who at least tacitly adopted a wait-and-see posture on the mine.
As one might suppose, the mine threat mobilized conservation groups across the nation.
"Any person or company that takes an action which would diminish this fishery commits a crime against each of us, and against the people and natural resources of Alaska," thundered R.P. Van Gytenbeek, president of the Federation of Fly Fishers.
Meanwhile, BLM presses on with its draft management plan for the area, even as opponents await the recommendation of the three-member fisheries panel. Expect plenty of action in Alaska's legislature as well.
Public input may be sent to the BLM at [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]. Comment deadline is Jan. 5.
