Protect Bristol Bay

Steelheaders join Bristol Bay campaign to protect one of the world’s best wild, sustainable fisheries and safeguard the income of many Pacific Northwest fishermen

Bristol Bay, Alaska, is home to one of the earth’s most prolific fisheries, which has significant

economic benefits to not only Alaska but also the Pacific Northwest. Many Northwest Steelheaders members travel to Bristol Bay to participate in this prolific wild fishery, and several Steelheaders business supporters make part of their livelihood from this fishery. Up to forty million sockeye salmon return to Bristol Bay each year, making it the world's largest run. In addition to sockeye, there are stunning runs of king salmon and trophy rainbow trout.

Large-scale mineral development like Pebble Mine that is proposed to be placed in the headwaters of Bristol Bay best wild salmon rivers, would change this place forever. Canadian mining corporation Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and Anglo American PLC, the world's second largest mining corporation, want to develop what would be the largest open pit gold-copper mine in North America in the headwaters of two of the most critical wild salmon producing drainages in the world, the Nushagak and Kvichak.

The proposed Pebble Mine would develop a low-grade, sulfuric-acid generating, gold-copper-molybdenum sulfide deposit using open-pit and other methods. At the same time, the Bureau of Land Management wants to open a million adjacent acres to hard-rock mining in this pristine watershed, coursed by rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, and lakes. The proposed Pebble Mine and Bristol Bay Mining District may pose the greatest single threat facing Alaska's salmon-bearing rivers and the communities and fisheries that depend upon them.

If built, Pebble Mine will:

• Generate up to 10 billion tons of toxic mine waste that would be held behind massive earthen dams located in an unstable seismic zone prone to earthquakes.

• Require development of a 100 mile road into wilderness, and construction of a major new fossil fuel power plant big enough to supply the city of Anchorage.

• Require nearly 35 billion gallons of water a year, critically reducing flow to multiple salmon rivers.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the hard rock mining industry is the single largest source of toxic waste in the country. History has shown that these mines often have devastating impacts on community health and fish populations. The toxic by-products which are an inevitable result of open-pit mines like the proposed Pebble Mine puts millions of salmon at great risk, as they are sensitive to even the slightest increases in certain metals like copper. Steelheaders are working in Oregon to curb the use of copper brake pads to help protect Oregon’s salmon.

There is a good example in Oregon of the devastating effects these mines have on watersheds and fish runs. The 76-acre Formosa Mine Superfund Site in the South Umpqua drainage was originally mined for copper and zinc from 1910-1937. The mine was reopened in 1989, and when mining operations ceased in 1993, the mine was filled with mill tailings, crushed ore and limestone. In 1997, the acid mine drainage control system failed and toxic drainage was released into the South Fork of Middle Creek and other points downstream. Eighteen miles of fish habitat downstream from the mine was severally degraded, and the documented fishery that had thrived prior to this time was destroyed. Tax payers are the ones who are footing the bill to clean up the Formosa Mine, which is only a very small fraction of the size of the 54.5-square-mile proposed Pebble Mine.

The fisheries of Bristol Bay generate $450 million for Alaska’s economy each year, and sport fishing is responsible for more than $160 million of that figure. The Bristol Bay commercial fishery, which is a wild, sustainable fishery, is the most valuable in the world, accounting for 52% of all private sector jobs in the region. Bristol Bay is also important to the Pacific Northwest economy, as thousands of both commercial and recreational Pacific Northwest fishermen and the businesses that depend on them make part of their livelihood from the region.

Northwest Steelheaders is working with Trout Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation to stop Pebble Mine and safeguard the irreplaceable resources of Bristol Bay. We do not want to see this thriving fishery become another Columbia River scenario with commercial, tribal and recreational fisheries fighting over a small allocation of Endangered Species Act impacts, the vast majority of which are hatchery fish. Wild, sustainable fisheries like those of Bristol Bay MUST be protected. The costs of not protecting this fishery, as evidenced by the billions of dollars spent on salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest, are way too great, and damage done to watersheds are very, very difficult to reverse.

The EPA has the authority to protect America’s natural resources, jobs and the regional economy of the Bristol Bay area. The Northwest Steelheaders urge you to support EPA’s Watershed Assessment of Bristol Bay so decision makers will have the science to make informed decisions. Please contact your federal representatives and tell them that Bristol Bay is too important to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to allow the Pebble Mine to be built. To take action, please click HERE.

If you haven’t yet traveled to the area to fish, chances are you’ve dreamt about it, and now’s the time to defend it. It only takes a few seconds to help protect one of the world’s greatest salmon fisheries.

View Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley's letter to the EPA HERE.