JUNEAU— An agreement announced Tuesday between an Alaska Native village corporation and conservationists would restrict development on lands in the Bristol Bay region where a mine developer has proposed a
Alaska Native group protects land coveted by Pebble Mine developers
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The road to Pebble Mine is getting rougher.
Pedro Bay Corp., a Native organization in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, announced late last month that nearly 90 percent of its shareholders voted in favor of conservation easements for more than 44,000 of the corporation’s 92,100 acres of land in southwest Alaska. The agreement would make the land off-limits to development, including Pebble Corp.’s proposed mining road.
“This transaction supports the values of our community members by protecting their land, their subsistence, and their traditional way of life,” Pedro Bay Corp. CEO Matt McDaniel said in a statement. “This is an opportunity that will provide our community benefits and economic value in perpetuity. After years of consideration, the shareholders have now made an informed decision on how to manage and protect their privately held ancestral lands.”
By taking action to protect the watershed of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, the EPA can support indigenous-led conservation and a robust economy in the region.
United Tribes of Bristol Bay (“UTBB”), representing 15 federally-recognized Tribes and 80 percent of the region’s residents, has formally asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to veto the destructive Pebble Mine and other large-scale mining in the watershed that feeds the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery. NRDC and a broad coalition of over 270 organizations and the millions of members and activists they represent have weighed in forcefully to support that request.
If you’re surprised that the widely condemned Pebble Mine isn’t dead yet, you’re not alone. Maybe you applauded the Army Corps of Engineers’ denial of a federal permit last November, and maybe you joined stakeholders from across the ideological spectrum in celebrating what you assumed was the final nail in the coffin of one of the worst projects anywhere.