On January 15, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long anticipated review of the potential impacts of a large open pit mine within the Bristol Bay watershed. The analysis found that unique aspects of the fragile ecosystem could be permanently damaged posing risk to salmon and Alaska Native cultures.

"Over three years, EPA compiled the best, most current science on the Bristol Bay watershed to understand how large-scale mining could impact salmon and water in this unique area of unparalleled natural resources," said Dennis McLerran, Regional Administrator for EPA Region 10. "Our report concludes that large-scale mining poses risks to salmon and the tribal communities that have depended on them for thousands of years. The assessment is a technical resource for governments, tribes and the public as we consider how to address the challenges of large-scale mining and ecological protection in the Bristol Bay watershed."

The Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska, a coalition of over 1,000 outdoor businesses and organizations, has been actively working to stop the development of Pebble Mine, an open pit copper, gold and molybdenum mine proposed to be built in the Bristol Bay watershed. The groups wrote a letter to EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy, expressing appreciation for the EPA's assessment and encouraging the agency to use its authority under Clean Water Act Section 404(c) that "authorizes the agency to prohibit, restrict, or deny the discharge of dredged or fill material at defined sites in waters of the United States whenever it determines, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, that use of such sites for disposal would have an unacceptable adverse impact on one or more of various resources including fisheries, wildlife, municipal water supplies or recreational areas."

"The Dallas Safari Club has long supported wildlife and habitat conservation and hunting and fishing access in southwest Alaska," commented Dallas Safari Club Executive Director Ben Carter. "Mining plans put at risk the very habitat and opportunities we have fought to conserve. Without habitat there is no fish and game?it is that simple. We oppose any development in the Bristol Bay region that would jeopardize this critical ecosystem and urge the EPA to move from studying Bristol Bay to protecting it."