• Land

Trump Administration Orders An About-Face on Pebble Mine

• Alaska
• Bristol Bay
• Native Alaskan Tribes
• Pebble Mine
• Salmon

On Monday in a highly unusual reversal, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a letter denying the permit application for the controversial Pebble Mine in Alaska. This comes after years of work and large expenditures by the Trump team to restart the development of the mine that President Obama rejected outright in 2014.

Why This Matters: This mine should never be built.  Ever. It puts at risk the single most valuable sustainable fishery in the world and puts two pristine national parks. 

• Land

Biden Takes Strong Stance Opposing Pebble Mine and Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon

• Alaska
• Arizona
• Bristol Bay
• commercial fishery
• Grand Canyon
• mining
• National Park
• Salmon

Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden over the weekend stated his strong opposition to two prominent mining projects –the Pebble Mine in Alaska and possible uranium mining adjacent to the Grand Canyon — with huge impacts on local economies and Native American communities nearby.

Why This Matters:  Biden understands the importance of both these pristine areas to ALL Americans, and especially their importance to Indigenous Americans.

• People

Special Interview with Raina Thiele, Former White House Liaison to Tribal Governments

• #30x30
• Alaska
• Bristol Bay
• Indigenous
• Indigenous Peoples Day
• indigenous rights
• Native Americans

Yesterday was the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.  In recognition of that, and the key role Indigenous peoples are playing in the conservation movement today in the U.S. and globally, we sat down with Raina Thiele, who is Dena’ina Athabascan, and Yup’ik, and has worked at the highest levels of government on Tribal […]

• Animals

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Restrictions on Hunting Alaskan Bear Cubs and Wolf Pups

• Alaska
• Bears
• hunting
• trophy hunting
• wolves

Yesterday, the Trump administration overturned an Obama-era ban on hunters in Alaska national preserves baiting bears or killing denning bear cubs and wolf pups and other practices that have been declared barbaric by environmental groups and the Obama administration. As Reuters reported, “Under the new National Park Service rule, effective July 9, hunting on natural […]

• Ocean

Alaska Confronts COVID: State May Close Salmon Season Just as Energy Projects Lose Funding

• Alaska
• ANWR
• Bristol Bay
• conservation
• environment
• fishing
• Pebble Mine
• wild salmon

Alaska’s Bristol Bay is home to the world’s most valuable wild salmon fisheries (and also an infamous mining project – the Pebble Mine) but salmon towns in the region lost 30% of their population to the 1918 Spanish Flu and locals fear it will happen again due to lack of medical capacity to handle the virus, unless the Governor, Republican Mike Dunleavy, shuts down fishing for this summer.

Why This Matters:  Alaska could be hit hard by a double whammy of no fishing this year and the loss of new oil and gas jobs in the future.

• Animals

The Makah Tribe Wants to Resume Hunt Whales, NOAA Must Pick a Side in Animal vs. Tribal Rights

• Alaska
• animal rights
• gray whales
• indigenous rights
• Washington
• whales

As the LA Times recently reported, this year, an administrative trial in Washington state could dictate whether the Makah tribe can resume hunting gray whales. The Makah, who live in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula have asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a waiver from the Marine Mammal Protection Act so they can restart their […]