Number: 2006-02
WHEREAS, the enormous Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world; and
WHEREAS, the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery, with nearly 33 million sockeye salmon projected to return to the region in 2006, is one of the largest in the world, generating millions of dollars of revenue, and producing high-quality fish for human consumption; and
WHEREAS, the region’s lakes and rivers sustain trophy-class rainbow trout and a robust sports fishing industry that attracts anglers from around the world; and
WHEREAS, many Alaska Native residents of the Bristol Bay watershed live a traditional subsistence lifestyle, living off the land and harvesting moose, caribou, berries, and other natural foods; and
WHEREAS, Northern Dynasty Minerals, Inc. has proposed building North America’s largest open-pit gold, copper, and molybdenum mine in the headwaters of the Koktuli, Kvichak, Mulchatna, and Nushagak Rivers near Lake Iliamna in the Bristol Bay watershed and to use cyanide to extract the minerals from the waste rock; and
WHEREAS, the operation would involve building a mill, an immense tailings pond to hold three billion tons of leftover waste, a 100-mile access road, and other facilities, as well as the damming and rerouting of rivers and the elimination of 15 square miles of tundra, wetlands, creeks, and lakes; and
WHEREAS, Northern Dynasty’s proposal has spurred thousands of new mining claims in the area and created the possibility of a 1,000 square-mile mining district; and
WHEREAS, the Pebble Mine could have devastating impacts on the Bristol Bay watershed’s environment and wildlife, its commercial and sports fisheries, and the quality of life of its rural residents;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled March 17-18, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, opposes the development of the Pebble Mine; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes any other mining activity in the Bristol Bay watershed that does not ensure the full protection of its fish, wildlife, environmental and cultural values.