Pebble Mine

[Phil Lilley]

PLEASE REPLY BY FRIDAY, APRIL 21 – if you are later than that, please still respond as this letter will continue to grow. We are going to do an initial release of the letter early the week of April 24.

Hello, Missouri supporters of wild Alaska.

I hope you are doing well these days.

The angling and hunting communities – from catch & release fishermen to big game hunters, and makers of fly rods to firearms manufacturers – has been long engaged in the fight to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska from the proposed Pebble Mine. I have worked with the sporting arm of the Bristol Bay campaign for about a decade now on this fight. We need as much or more backing now than we ever have needed, from Alaska, coast to coast in the Lower 48, and beyond. Please read on and send me your OK to add your business or group as a signer to the letter. Thanks!

Well, here we go again. Below you’ll see our new Bristol Bay / Pebble Mine letter, addressed to President Trump. As one of over 1,160 sporting groups and businesses who’ve joined forces to protect Bristol Bay, I’m hoping that you’ll continue showing your support via this new letter. The themes are largely the same as they’ve always been.

· Unique ecosystem producing the most wild salmon on the planet

· Incredible fishing and hunting opportunities that attract anglers and hunters from around the globe

· Economic powerhouse based on the fishery producing $1.5 billion annually and supporting 14,000 American jobs

· Pebble is simply the wrong mine in the wrong place – there is precious little room for error in Bristol Bay.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Pebble Limited Partnership have extended the stay in their court case until May 5. They are attempting to reach a settlement of the case which has tied up the Clean Water Act common-sense proposed restrictions on disposal of mine waste in Bristol Bay since late 2014. A settlement could result in EPA withdrawing those proposed restrictions, allowing Pebble to consider applying for a permit without those restrictions in place up front. Pebble still needs to bring on a major partner (or multiple partners) to advance the project even into permitting probably. Permit applications would set off years of environmental impact statements and all that process entails, including multiple opportunities for public comment. The merits of the argument that have carried us this far still are more than valid.

We are asking President Trump to stand with American anglers and hunters, allow the best science to guide any decisions regarding the future of Bristol Bay, and ultimately to stop the Pebble Mine. One major ask in this letter is that even if the Clean Water Act proposed restrictions are withdrawn – at least the multi-year study known as the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment should be retained to inform future decision making.

If you have any questions, just ask. Otherwise, simply respond to me affirming your continued support by having your business included in the list of signers to this important letter.

Thank you so much for all the past and ongoing support. We’ll keep at this until we achieve our goal.

Scott Hed

Director

www.SportsmansAlliance4AK.org

scott@sportsmansalliance4ak.org

605-351-1646

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 24, 2017

President Donald J. Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500-0001

Cc: Scott Pruitt, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Ryan Zinke, Secretary, Department of Interior

Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator from Alaska

Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senator from Alaska

Don Young, U.S. Representative from Alaska

President Trump,

As organizations and companies that represent millions of sportsmen and women and outdoor enthusiasts across all 50 states we write to ask you simply to stop efforts to develop the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

For many of us, stopping Pebble Mine is and has been a top priority for our organizations and our members or customers for more than ten years.

The late Senator Ted Stevens called this project “the wrong mine in the wrong place.” For over a decade an unprecedented coalition of native tribes, commercial fishermen, anglers and hunters, conservationists, religious groups, restaurateurs, jewelers, investment firms, and outdoor enthusiasts have been fighting this foreign-owned mine proposal, and have worked to gain protections for the Bristol Bay region. Millions of Americans eat, fish for, or make their living off of Bristol Bay’s wild salmon.

Our voices have been and will continue to be loud and persistent. Over 1,150 sport fishing and hunting groups and businesses have asked for Bristol Bay to be protected. Hunters and anglers were strongly represented in the over 1.5 million public comments asking the federal government to shield Bristol Bay from the dangers of the proposed Pebble Mine during the multi-year Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment and subsequent Clean Water Act process. This transparent and participatory process resulted in the set of common-sense restrictions on disposal of mine waste that any mine development would need to meet if it pursued construction of a mine in this incredibly productive and valuable place.

Bristol Bay supports one of the planet’s best remaining salmon fisheries, which at an average run of 37.5 million fish, produces 46% of the world’s sockeye salmon. On top of the incredible number of sockeye salmon, the watershed supports Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, rainbow trout, grayling, and char, all of which are prized sport fish that result in more than 29,000 fishing trips per year. In addition to world-class fisheries, the area is also home to high densities of brown bear, moose, caribou, waterfowl, and ptarmigan that attract hunters from around the world.

From an economic perspective, sportfishing, hunting, and eco-tourism alone generate more than $160 million in local economic activity, creating nearly 2,500 local, sustainable jobs. In contrast, Northern Dynasty Minerals, the foreign-owned company behind the Pebble Mine, would create only about 1,000 temporary mining jobs while threatening 14,000 American commercial and recreational fishery jobs in a $1.5 billion annual salmon fishery that can last indefinitely.

We are concerned over reports and speculation that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Pruitt is working to settle an outstanding lawsuit with Pebble’s promoters. Alarmingly, we are hearing that such a settlement could involve tossing aside not only the work done under the Clean Water Act, but also the entire contents of the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment (BBWA). The BBWA is the scientific record and a sound basis for making informed decisions on the future of Bristol Bay. It must remain available to guide and inform regulators who will be tasked with reviewing permit applications if submitted.

Protecting Bristol Bay puts Alaskans and Americans first. Dismantling the work done by the EPA, erasing years of study to show what makes Bristol Bay unique and how the risks to it from mining of the type and of the scale being proposed would impact the region, and completely disregarding the majority opinion of Alaskans, as well as the myriad sportsmen and women from around the nation…that’s putting foreign corporate profits first.

Simply put, places like Bristol Bay are increasingly rare and extremely valuable. Millions of our members and customers across this country are counting on you to stand with us in stopping this mine in this place.

Respectfully,

 

 

Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska

Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska - Hunters and anglers working together to preserve fish and game habitats and hunting and fishing opportunities on our public lands in Alaska

sportsmansalliance4ak.org

 

[grizwilson]

This is the link to sign on line that Scot Hed sent me:

http://action.savebristolbay.org/page/s/new-president-protect-bristol-bay