"Alaska's Clash Over Salmon and Gold Goes National"

"Alaska's Clash Over Salmon and Gold Goes National"

Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic

Click here to see original article.

Written By:

Edwin Dobb

for National Geographic News

Published November 16, 2012


Every summer, 30 to 40 million adult sockeye salmon return to the Bristol Bay, then swim upstream to complete an ancient cycle of renewal. However, that is where two widely different interests have clashed, because the upper reaches of the spawning grounds houses a world-class ore deposit containing about 80 billion pounds of copper and 110 million ounces of gold.

There are two companies on one side of the conflict—Northern Dynasty Minerals, of British Columbia, and Anglo American, an international behemoth headquartered in London. KNown as the Pebble Partnership, they insist that a large-scale industrial enterprise would pose no serious threat to wildlife and habitat. This enterprise includes a pit mine up to 2 miles wide and 1700 feet deep, a comparable underground operation, a mill to crush and separate metals, and tailings ponds that likely will dwarf the mines.

On the other side of the conflict lies a patchwork of native groups, commercial fishermen, village councils, local residents, outfitters, conservationists, and others united in the conviction that the environmental risks, especially for salmon, greatly outweigh the economic benefits. Numerous battles involving state petitions, legislative initiatives, lawsuits and public opinion campaigns have resulted in a turning point in how Alaskans resolve disagreements over the exploitation of natural resources, which has long been the backbone of the whole state economy.

Convinced that they can't trust the state government to look out for their interests, those opposed to the mine believe that protecting the planet's largest and most robust wild salmon fishery—and all that makes the Bristol Bay watershed distinctive—now relies in large part on convincing the rest of the country that a treasure of singular national importance is in danger.

Personally, I love salmon for consumption. I understand the Pebble Partnership's goals but I do believe that they are overexploiting their rights as companies for enhanced benefit. It is fairly "noble" for both sides to fight it out through use of the law and not through illegal means, but if a deuce is what is in play and nothing gets done, it is technically dependent upon outside parties to help out what they believe is the most righteous cause.

- Andrew