The New York Times Feature: Protecting Bristol Bay's Salmon

In May, the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) proposed to restrict Pebble Mine’s disposal of mining waste in Bristol Bay, which has been widely recognized as a critical step in protecting one of last strongholds for all five species of Pacific salmon. However, as explained by Jason Metrokin, president & CEO of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation in The New York Times, this is not the only action that the region needs.

He outlines land conservation as a critical component to Bristol Bay’s safeguarding — specifically with the completion of our Pedro Bay Rivers project. This collaborative effort seeks to put permanent protections on over 44,000 acres of vital habitat that is essential to the health and vitality of Bristol Bay, the people who live there and the world-renowned salmon industry. The conservation easements will also prevent the construction of an industrial-scale road needed by Pebble to connect the proposed mine site to Cook Inlet on the Pacific Ocean.

In his Times essay, Jason Metrokin writes:

“EPA action, legislation and on-the-ground conservation would not be enough as separate efforts, but together, they can permanently protect Bristol Bay, the salmon and our way of life.”

Read the full essay here.

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In May 2022, the EPA published a Clean Water Act Section 404(c) Proposed Determination to prohibit and restrict the use of certain waters in the Bristol Bay watershed as disposal sites for the discharge of dredged or fill material associated with mining the Pebble Deposit. If finalized, EPA’s Section 404(c) determination would help protect the Bristol Bay watershed’s rivers, streams, and wetlands that support the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery and a subsistence-based way of life that has sustained Alaska Native communities for millennia.

Securing Long-Term Protection for Alaska’s Bristol Bay Region Requires Comprehensive Action by Larry Selzer

Safeguarding the World’s Most Productive Salmon Fishery by Tim Troll

Capturing the Essence of Bristol Bay, Alaska: One Photographer’s Journey by Bri Dwyer

LEARN MORE ABOUT PEDRO BAY RIVERS