Bristol Bay Alaska is home to the last truly Wild Sockeye Salmon run in the entire world. The waters that flow down from the Mulchatna, Kvichak, Wood and Nushagak Rivers through Bristol Bay and into the North Aleutian Basin are ripe with a multitude of life that feeds and sustains the entire North Pacific Fishery. From massive Chinooks to darting trout, these previously undisturbed waters have sustained the way of life in our region for at least 4000 years and possibly longer. Brown bears roam along streams to grab up the wonderful meals provided by Mother Nature as moose meander around the grassy creek banks and a bald eagle soars overhead searching to swoop down and grab that perfect salmon to carry off and devour as a meal with fledglings. Every year, millions of Chinook, Sockeye and Coho Salmon make the journey back to their home-streams through the gauntlet of seiners, drifters, setters and anglers that depend on this priceless and sustainable fishery for their livelihood and subsistence. But... this is rapidly changing and we stand at a point in history where We The People can make a real difference.
Currently there are at least a dozen active mineral exploration projects being worked in the headwaters of Bristol Bay. From the massive Pebble East/West Project to the smaller projects with names like Humble, Big Chunk, GroundHog and Togiak Terrace; corporate greed has found it's way to the furtherest reaches of Alaska. Just the exploration activities themselves have caused irreversible damages to the formerly pristine nature that surrounds these mining claims. To allow this to go any further would clearly show disregard and ignorance to the importance of Bristol Bay as a national and global resource that is essentially the feed-waters for the entire North Pacific and the fisheries that exist here.
Last year, several tribal and regional entities approached the US Environmental Protection Agency asking that the 404c Clean Water Act be applied to the watershed and to block the permitting actions of the developers of the proposed Pebble Project. This project is set to become the largest open-pit mine in North America and possibly the world. Along with drilling and digging miles and miles of holes, the project will also entail constructing one of the largest man-made structures ever, a huge earthen damn to hold tens of billions of gallons of toxic mining waste in a seismically active area.
The EPA heard our cries for help and on May 18, 2012 the EPA released, "An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska" and are now asking for public comment on the assessment and potential action by the agency. Key findings in EPA’s draft assessment include:
· All five species of North American Pacific Salmon are found in Bristol Bay. The Bristol Bay watershed supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world. The Kvichak River produces more sockeye salmon than any other river in the world. The Nushagak River is the fourth largest producer of Chinook salmon in North America.
· Bristol Bay’s wild salmon fishery and other ecological resources provide at least 14,000 full and part-time jobs and is valued to be at least $480 million annually.
· The average annual run of sockeye salmon is about 37.5 million fish and is about 50% of the worlds salmon harvest.
· Bristol Bay provides habitat for numerous animal species, including 35 fish species, more than 190 bird species and 40 animal species.
The EPA is accepting public comment through July 23, 2012 on the draft assessment, then there will be public meeting held in Anchorage on August 7, 2012 for the 'Scientific Peer Review Panel'. This isn't just another greenie tree hugging plea either, this is about how We The People have lost our power as citizens of The United States of America. Heres how you can make your voice heard in this critical issue to protect Bristol Bay...
<<Assessment Links>>
The Executive Summary:
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/pdfs/bristolbay/bristol_bay_assessment_erd_2012_exec_summary.pdf
The Full Assessment:
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/pdfs/bristolbay/bristol_bay_assessment_erd_2012_vol1.pdf
>>Public Comment Info Link>>
http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/ECOCOMM.NSF/bristol+bay/bristolbay