Army Corps says no to massive gold mine proposed near Bristol Bay in Alaska

[z987k]

I'm still waiting to see @dla's email to Northern Dynasty asking them to relocate the project to the Salmon River right by the Frank. Again, they're in the market for a new spot now, and it will create just an absolute *ton* of really awesome jobs.



I've heard the same from my buddies who live up there. Any specific examples of this you know of? Would be very interested to learn more about this.

I think the federal Halibut fishery is a good example of the federal government destroying multiple resources.

I can't find it now, but I had read that the Feds were going to ban bear hunting somewhere down on the Kenai where the Alaska F&G says there's a large overpopulation and wants to increase hunting. Excess bears leads to less everything else. The Feds are going on feelings of idiots in the flatlands, while our f&g, in my experience is really good about raising and lowering or banning hunting when it actually needs to be done.

I don't even hunt bears, and I don't like halibut that much. But to see resources destroyed by "well meaning" idiots from 2000 miles away where I live doesn't make me happy.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SmokeJumper1978]

It’s only a flesh wound...

From what I’ve read and heard, this mine was a bad idea. Glad to see the environment winning this one, for now.

Army Corps finally made a good decision

 

[Marbles]

This topic came up at work and the Kennecotte mine was brought up as an example of mines not causing harm to fish. Trying to learn more I came across this. I learned several things I did not know. If I get the time I will try to varify its information more in-depth.

 

[Z71&Gun]

At this point Im still skeptical that this is the final death blow....but it is still good news for folks who value intact watersheds and the largest salmon fishery in the world.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/pebble-mine-alaska/2020/11/25/bc46575c-2f41-11eb-860d-f7999599cbc2_story.html

I agree about the death blow. Always double tap.

 

[Dereleek22]

I think the federal Halibut fishery is a good example of the federal government destroying multiple resources.

I can't find it now, but I had read that the Feds were going to ban bear hunting somewhere down on the Kenai where the Alaska F&G says there's a large overpopulation and wants to increase hunting. Excess bears leads to less everything else. The Feds are going on feelings of idiots in the flatlands, while our f&g, in my experience is really good about raising and lowering or banning hunting when it actually needs to be done.

I don't even hunt bears, and I don't like halibut that much. But to see resources destroyed by "well meaning" idiots from 2000 miles away where I live doesn't make me happy.

Curious if you have more info about your halibut comment - are you seeing a decline in fishery productivity in certain areas due to federal oversight? Genuinely interested if you know of any articles/research on it.

 

[BLR.308]

Newbie here looking around to build post count. I spent the summer of 2008 in Anchorage. Being an election year, I remember hearing a lot about this mine. Glad to know It has not succeeded. I was a sophomore at Clemson studying Natural Resource Management, and this sounded like a huge gamble to take. In my opinion the potential consequences were not worth the risk!

 

[fwafwow]

Newbie here looking around to build post count. I spent the summer of 2008 in Anchorage. Being an election year, I remember hearing a lot about this mine. Glad to know It has not succeeded. I was a sophomore at Clemson studying Natural Resource Management, and this sounded like a huge gamble to take. In my opinion the potential consequences were not worth the risk!

Welcome to RS!

 

[BLR.308]

Thanks fwafwow, nice avatar! Hate Boulware didn't make it in the nfl, always liked the energy he brought to the field.

 

[fwafwow]

Thanks fwafwow, nice avatar! Hate Boulware didn't make it in the nfl, always liked the energy he brought to the field.

Go Tigers!

 

[Akwoodchuck]

Apparently our brilliant governor is still all in on pushing Pebble through:

Dunleavy will appeal permit denial for the proposed Pebble Mine

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is calling the denial a “dangerous precedent” that would harm Alaska’s future.

www.alaskapublic.org

 

[AK Troutbum]

Yeah, I guess the Pebble Partnership doesn't have enough money to appeal this decision, so our governor feels the need to weigh in and assist with the appeal process.

 

[Akwoodchuck]

I think the federal Halibut fishery is a good example of the federal government destroying multiple resources.

I can't find it now, but I had read that the Feds were going to ban bear hunting somewhere down on the Kenai where the Alaska F&G says there's a large overpopulation and wants to increase hunting. Excess bears leads to less everything else. The Feds are going on feelings of idiots in the flatlands, while our f&g, in my experience is really good about raising and lowering or banning hunting when it actually needs to be done.

I don't even hunt bears, and I don't like halibut that much. But to see resources destroyed by "well meaning" idiots from 2000 miles away where I live doesn't make me happy.

Not sure what your beef is with halibut, but in regards to bear hunting on the Kenai, your Intel is bad. The FWS (feds) is proposing a rule change which will EXPAND bear hunting in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge by allowing baiting of brown bears:

Refuge-Specific Regulations; Public Use; Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service, we) proposes to amend its refuge-specific regulations on Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) to allow State-regulated trapping, harvest of brown bears over bait, discharge of firearms along the Kenai and Russian Rivers during certain times of the year...

www.federalregister.gov

 

[william schmaltz]

Not sure what your beef is with halibut, but in regards to bear hunting on the Kenai, your Intel is bad. The FWS (feds) is proposing a rule change which will EXPAND bear hunting in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge by allowing baiting of brown bears:

It's true that USFWS is proposing expanding brown bear hunting within the refuge, but it was the refuge (feds) that suggested the rule against banning, trapping, and discharge of firearms along sections of the Kenai and Russian go in place back in 2015. As we have seen over and over again, once a rule is in place on federal land, it's almost impossible to reverse. The rule change was denied in Federal court this fall and consequently the State of Alaska has sued the Department of the Interior for not letting us manage our resources. I can't think of a time when hunting and/or trapping has been taken away on federal land and then been reinstated. At least not without a massive battle. I would love to see an example, especially if predators are involved. Once something is banned on federal land (bear baiting, predator hunting, firearm discharge, trapping) it's a daunting uphill battle to get those opportunities back.

VICTORY! Court upholds prohibition of brown bear baiting in the Kenai Refuge — Alaska Wildlife Alliance (akwildlife.org)

Kenai Wildlife Refuge hunting rules challenged in court (alaskasnewssource.com)

Curious if you have more info about your halibut comment

As far as federal mismanagement of the trawl fleet and complacency to the rape of our seas, spend a couple hours on the NOAA website and try not to puke. Within the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) district in 2020 alone, 4.85 million lbs of halibut bycatch, 365% of the allowable sablefish bycatch, 46,000 chinook salmon, 320,000 other salmon, and almost 1.5 million crab. All brought to the surface and then dumped overboard so people can eat the Fillet O Fish. When trawlers were facing the prospect of being shut down in 2020 because of exceeding their herring quota, the North Pacific Council simply doubled the quota on the spot to keep everyone fishing.

In the Gulf of Alaska, just under 4 million lbs of halibut were dumped overboard by the trawl fisheries in 2020. That's in addition to approximately 12,000 chinook salmon. Keep in mind that only 20% of boats within the GOA district have an observer at any given time. So God knows how biased low them numbers are.

Bycatch | NOAA Fisheries

 

[Akwoodchuck]

It's disingenuous to mischaracterize the Kenai Rule as a "ban against" anything, when what it basically did was maintain the status quo which has been in place for many, many years...

 

[william schmaltz]

Fair enough. Safe to say that status quo is the reason Alaskan sportsmen against the mine want to faint when they hear people from the L48 suggest federal protections. State land in a conservation trust would be just fine with me!

I did read back in this forum a bit. As far as federal vs. state management of fisheries, both seem hell bent on managing fisheries strictly for commercial lobby $. Chinook returning to Cook Inlet are a great example of state mismanagement brought up earlier in this conversation. We will see with the shift to federal management and the subsequent commercial fishing closures of federal waters in Cook Inlet on the horizon if things start to swing or if we have a bigger problem out there. Either way, we need to kill less until its figured out.

 

[OXN939]

Yeah, I guess the Pebble Partnership doesn't have enough money to appeal this decision, so our governor feels the need to weigh in and assist with the appeal process.

How does that guy keep getting reelected? Is there seriously anyone up there who thinks he cares about their opinion or welfare?

 

[AK Troutbum]

How does that guy keep getting reelected? Is there seriously anyone up there who thinks he cares about their opinion or welfare?

This is actually only his first term and after just reading about him also recently appointing two hunting guides to our board of game (currently now 3 of the 7 BOG members are commercial guides), I'm starting to really hope that he isn't re-elected in '22.

 

[william schmaltz]

How does that guy keep getting reelected? Is there seriously anyone up there who thinks he cares about their opinion or welfare?

He's a first term governor. The right to develop our resources is in our constitution. The welfare of our state literally depends on resource extraction. So yes, when the governor is constantly fighting for the state's right to extract, he is doing what the majority elected him to do which aligns with what they believe is for the good of their welfare and the welfare of the state.

I do not agree with it. He is at least fiscally responsible. I'll roll the dice compared to the alternative politicians we're offered.

EDIT: yes, he lied to Alaskan hunters with his BOG appointees! I feel like how candidates will appoint to BOG and BOF should be in every debate!

 

[OXN939]

He's a first term governor. The right to develop our resources is in our constitution. The welfare of our state literally depends on resource extraction. So yes, when the governor is constantly fighting for the state's right to extract, he is doing what the majority elected him to do which aligns with what they believe is for the good of their welfare and the welfare of the state.

I do not agree with it. He is at least fiscally responsible. I'll roll the dice compared to the alternative politicians we're offered.

EDIT: yes, he lied to Alaskan hunters with his BOG appointees! I feel like how candidates will appoint to BOG and BOF should be in every debate!

Thanks for the correction, thought I remembered hearing that this was a second term. In any case, I haven't heard anything positive about the guy. Between the lawsuit against him and now throwing his executive weight behind the development of Pebble after it was exhaustively determined to be irresponsible and dangerous, he still seems like a loser.