Stop The 'Pebble Mine'

There are some things in the world that are more valuable than money, things for which there are no price tags.

When I was in college I had the unique opportunity of working as a fishing guide for three summers in Alaska. It was an incredible experience in an amazing land.

As an outfitter in an area accessible only by boat or float plane, I saw bald eagles, grizzly bears and moose routinely. Once I tracked a lynx along the river. Frequently, I ran across wolf tracks and was even awoken one night while camping by a chorus of wolves 100 yards away.

Just below our camp, the Koktuli River was full of king salmon, sockeyes, chum salmon, rainbow trout, arctic grayling, dolly varden, and pike. It reminded me of our own Driftwood Branch, except for the wolves and grizzlies running its banks, as well as the much larger fish, and more of them.

While we were flying over the headwaters of the Koktuli, I was able to view one of the most spectacular occurrences in all of nature -- the great caribou migration. By the pilot's estimates, the herd held about 50,000 individuals. It was about a quarter mile wide and seemingly stretched forever out across the treeless tundra.

Imagine my dismay when, this past year, I learned of a proposal for the world's largest open pit mine to be located in the headwaters of the Koktuli, right where I had witnessed the miraculous caribou migration. This proposed "Pebble Mine" would be smack dab in the middle of the Bristol Bay drainage, the most productive salmon fishery in the world.

Canadian mining company Northern Dynasty is seeking a permit for Pebble Mine, trying to cash in on copper, gold, and molybdenum deposits along this large roadless estimated to be valued at over $300 billion.

Both underground and open pit mines are proposed. The proposed open pit would be approximately two miles wide and several thousand feet deep.

Five earthen dams, the largest of which will be over 700 feet high and four miles long, are proposed for the headwaters of the Koktuli to hold the toxic tailings and waste chemicals produced by the mining operation.

This mining process would produce cyanide, other toxic heavy metals, and acid mine drainage to be stored in the enormous lagoon. Alaska is one of the most earthquake active zones in the world. Should this behemoth dam break, it would destroy the Bristol Bay ecosystem.

Bristol Bay supports salmon runs numbering tens of millions of fish. It is the most important salmon fishery in the world. The Bristol Bay drainage has the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world.

As you would expect, the Bristol Bay supports an enormous fishery, with numerous lodges and outfitters located within its streams. Many streams are fantastic trophy rainbow trout fisheries. Between commercial and sportfishing, the Bristol Bay drainage contributes over $400 million annually to Alaska's economy.

These are priceless national treasures. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think of the Pebble Mine and its access roads occupying this sacred ground.

Caribou calving ground and trout and salmon spawning waters would be physically destroyed, while the toxic storage areas would threaten the entire Bristol Bay fishery.

If the Pebble Mine permitting goes through, it will be a great national tragedy, setting off a second gold rush with large corporate companies destroying Alaska's wilderness in their greed.