****Top Story****

Pebble debate an echo of our past
By GEORGE MATZ
Anchorage Daily News
April 10, 2007

A century ago Alaska was embroiled in an epic battle over its natural resources. The Guggenheim Corp., the nation's largest mining conglomerate, sought control of Prince William Sound copper, coal and oil. It planned to parlay the development of these resources into other mining ventures: "colonial capitalism at its height," according to Stephen Haycox in "Alaska: An American Colony."

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http://www.adn.com/opinion/compass/story/8780536p-8682022c.html

 

Pebble foes threaten mine tax
INITIATIVE: Petition written, but group waits to see how the tax bill fares in the Legislature.
By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK
Anchorage Daily News
April 3, 2007

Opponents of Pebble, the controversial copper and gold mineral prospect, are considering asking Alaskans to vote on a big new tax for certain mines.

The mine tax idea is one of several voter initiatives Pebble opponents are preparing to push if the Legislature and Gov. Sarah Palin don't tighten Alaska's environmental standards and raise the mining industry's taxes.

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http://www.adn.com/front/story/8761477p-8663116c.html

Protect Alaska's wild salmon
GLOBE EDITORIAL
Boston Globe
April 2, 2007

IN ALASKA, the world's most valuable wild salmon run is threatened by a plan to dig North America's largest open-pit gold and copper mine. Like any major development promising jobs, Northern Dynasty Minerals' Pebble project has supporters in Alaska, while opponents have introduced bills in the state Legislature to block the plan and protect the headwaters of Bristol Bay. More than any local action, however, conscientious enforcement of the US Clean Water Act by federal officials should deal the Pebble project the crippling blow it deserves.

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http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/04/02/protect_alaskas_wild_salmon/

Bristol Bay up for grabs
OIL LEASES: Worried fishing interests take their case to Congress.
By KEVIN DIAZ
Anchorage Daily News
April 1, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Longtime Alaska fisherman Tom Tilden, chief of the Curyung Tribal Council in Dillingham, spent the last week looking for ways to connect Capitol Hill lawmakers to his native Bristol Bay, which he fears may soon be opened to oil and gas exploration.

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http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8757642p-8659147c.html

Alaskan Salmon Win Key Round vs. Gold Mine
Court ruling forces distinction between toxic mine tailings and harmless fill; Move may protect Alaska's vital Bristol Bay ecosystem
by Craig Weatherby
Vital Choices
April 1, 2007

We are surprised and very pleased that a top federal court has issued a preliminary ruling that could help block the vast Pebble Mine complex proposed for sitting near Alaska’s vital Bristol Bay ecosystem.

To view article in its entirety, please click on

http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article000786723.cfm?x=b9jSdWG,b6C2N1sB

 

Letters to the Edit

 

State dropped the ball on what could be solution to Pebble problem
By Charles E. Duncan – Anchorage
Anchorage Daily News
April 10, 2007

http://www.adn.com/opinion/letters/story/8780534p-8682021c.html

The controversy over the Pebble mine must be understood in the context of my 1984 proposal for an industrial science policy for Alaska. This policy was to use our university to participate with the U.S. military in transferring and advancing plasma processing technology.

Plasma processing was chosen as the top priority because hundreds of new industries can spin off from basic advances in this technology. Alaska politicians and industrial leadership failed to invest in plasma processing, and now we may be asked to use potentially dangerous chemical processing at the Pebble mine.

Our state requires mining development to move us toward establishing our manufacturing base, but Alaska's failure to prioritize our science funding is leading to a tragic point of policy decision. Waiting for the technological development will obstruct our current investments, and using chemical processing can potentially destroy important natural resources.

The solution being forced upon us by our own failures is to allow the Pebble mine to go forward, but only with absolutely strict regulations for the containment of toxic chemicals.

Most important, let us finally realize that our resource-based economy requires a plasma physics institute at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

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Writer defends target of mine company
by George Jacko
Peninsula Clarion
April 9, 2007

http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/040907/letters_20070409001.shtml

Alaskans have a debt to pay and it is past due today. The public debate about Pebble Mine rages on, extreme on both sides heated and sometimes wicked, but few who love Alaska could disagree the debate has been of benefit to us all. From the middle of this we all emerge educated, more aware and most importantly carry a calm sense of assurance that people care about what happens to our state.

Most days I read or hear comments from Northern Dynasty employees or other financial beneficiaries a personal attack on one man, Bob Gillam. It’s a dirty little battle tactic being used by Northern Dynasty to put this on one person and make him out to be a villain. I am engaged in this debate and informed enough to know that, yes, Bob Gillam is playing a role. As a Native Alaskan he has stepped up to the plate and delivered energy, drive, organization and in many ways been the enabler of balance.

As a resident of Pedro Bay, an impacted community, armed with the knowledge and experience of public service and years of studying the tactics and record of the mining industry, I did knock on Bob Gillam’s door and ask for his help. Bob had little to gain from getting involved, he is an Alaskan who has done well for himself and can well afford a comfortable life, far from controversy.

Fortunately for all Alaskans, he did have personal knowledge of the Bristol Bay region; fortunately for all Alaskans, he does have a summer home in Lake Clark. I and others did play this card with Bob, but even then getting him involved was not an easy task and has proven many times over to be of huge personal cost, far in excess of any thanks or personal gain.

Bob Gillam has given concerned local folks a voice; without his involvement and resources, we would be buried under hundreds of pages of Northern Dynasty permit applications, dependant on state and local borough governments for understanding, protection and balance. Governments such as the Lake and Peninsula Borough, whose actions speak strongly of a government captured by the money of Northern Dynasty.

Agree or disagree with the way Bob Gillam wages war against the Pebble Mine, but agree and give thanks to him for being a good neighbor, willing to lend a hand, willing to engage us all in debate over the pros and cons of the mine.

Were it not for the involvement of Bob Gillam, Northern Dynasty would likely have their water permits today and none of us would know what we sacrificed to the profits of Northern Dynasty shareholders until 50 years had gone by.

 

 

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Salmon runs more important than mine
By Thatcher Brouwer – Juneau
Juneau Empire
April 9, 2007

http://juneauempire.com/stories/040907/let_20070409003.shtml

The Taku River is one of the most important watersheds in Southeast Alaska. It is often the largest salmon producer in the region with as many as two million salmon returning annually. As a young commercial salmon fisherman, I am worried that Redcorp Venture's plan to reopen the Tulsequah Chief Mine and its recent proposal to use a hover barge and an amphibious tug on the Taku River will greatly endanger these important salmon runs.

According to a McDowell Group report, commercial fishing Taku River salmon provides Southeast Alaska with 80 jobs, $1.4 million in labor income and $5.4 million in total regional output. The sustainable annual salmon runs will always be more important and valuable to Juneau than the Tulsequah Chief Mine.

Redcorp's proposal to use a hover barge and an amphibious tug is a complete surprise and raises many new questions and concerns:

• What effects will the Hoover barge and an amphibious tug have on salmon fry, salmon spawning beds and the critical side channel habitat in the Taku and Tulsequah rivers?

• What happens if there is an accident and a spill of mining concentrate or fuel in the river?

• Will the fans used to raise the barge above the water kill or scare salmon fry or salmon returning to spawn?

• Will the tracks on the amphibious tug destroy critical salmon habitat and change the Taku River forever?

• Has such technology ever been tested on a river such as the Taku?

I urge Gov. Sarah Palin to ask Redcorp Ventures to honestly answer these questions. The commercial fishermen that depend on these salmon runs to support Southeast Alaska's economy deserve answers. I also encourage Palin to work with Canadian officials to create a Taku River watershed plan that would set standards for development and guarantee permanent protection for the important salmon runs.

We have an opportunity to protect the Taku River watershed and ensure it does not turn into an industrial shipping channel polluted with acid mine drainage. If we sit on our hands and let the Canadian mining corporations do as they please, in 20 years there may not be nearly as many Taku River salmon.

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Gillam's support opposing proposed Pebble mine appreciated by many
By Charlotte Balluta
Anchorage Daily News
April 9, 2007

http://www.adn.com/opinion/letters/story/8778737p-8680216c.html

I am Athabascan Indian born and raised in the village of Nondalton. I work for the Nondalton Tribal Council as the environmental coordinator. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Robert Gillam for his support regarding our opposition of the proposed Pebble mine ("Converted, Pebble for bankrolls opposition," March 27). From my own personal observation, I've become aware of all the negative information that is being said about Gillam. But we are both fighting for the same thing, our land, water, fish and wildlife. Gillam's support is greatly appreciated by many within our community.

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Pebble mine boosters are desperate in their bid to discredit opponents
Jonathan Flora, Bristol Bay commercial fisherman, Fairbanks
Anchorage Daily News
April 6, 2007

http://www.adn.com/opinion/letters/story/8769650p-8671081c.html

I'm a bit confused about the direction of the Pebble mine debate, including the March 17 letter from Martin L. Meigs ("Economic benefit of Pebble mine would dwarf entire fishing industry"). Surely people who are concerned about the environment, Alaska jobs and a prosperous salmon industry must be servants of Satan, or worse, a liberal.

Former House Speaker Gail Phillips apparently has also run with the name-calling. Pebble opposition must be rather stiff if boosters are desperate enough start hurling "un-American and un-Alaskan" around the media circuits.

I won't repeat the numerous reasons Pebble should be opposed. Most Alaskans are by now aware of the debate and what is at stake. I look forward to more "Pebble-tainment" in the weeks to come, but one question: Where does Mr. Meigs actually fish?

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Alaska should deny mining permits
Matt Hoey, Capitola, CA
Peninsula Clarion
April 5, 2007

http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/040507/letters_20070405001.shtml

Where to mine in Alaska is the wrong question. The question we all should ask presupposes where mineral development should take place and more appropriately asks: How do we produce consumer products using far less virgin materials that demand the highest amounts of toxic chemicals to prepare it for steel, gold products, etc.?

Alaskans again find themselves in a position of being asked to supply the raw materials needed for the United States to continue its unsustainable practices of consuming a quarter of the world’s energy. The question that all Alaskans should be asking is: Do we want to enable these industries to continue “business as usual” by physically giving our state away with a shortsighted ill-informed approval to the detriment of our children and grandchildren?

Our way of life has to change for the Earth’s sake and, Alaskans have a unique opportunity to act as a catalyst for that change. Denying mineral companies permits for their extractive processes will not just relocate mining in other areas of the world, but it will raise further awareness of natural resource scarcity and perhaps force the innovation needed for finding alternative inputs.

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Opposition to Pebble project isn't un-Alaskan; mining threatens Natives
By Lucy Weedman, New Stuyahok
Anchorage Daily News
April 5, 2007

http://www.adn.com/opinion/letters/story/8766798p-8668316c.html

This is in response to former House Speaker Gail Phillips on being un-Alaskan and un-American ("Pebble prospect may have a mascot," Jan. 19). I am an aboriginal Alaska Native, born and raised in Bristol Bay. Phillips stated that Northern Dynasty Minerals has had numerous threats; I'd like to ask her about the threats of mining on our lands, stripping away our traditional and cultural way of life for the aboriginal rural communities like my village of 550-plus community members of New Stuyahok.

Of course mining is un-Alaskan. Mining is foreign to our people, especially in Bristol Bay. There is no mining company in the world that can prove that it can operate safely without environmental damage. In fact, the mining industry depends on technological analysis.

Bristol Bay has a pristine watershed that spawns the five salmon species that we so proudly boast to the world about. I don't know very much about mining but have done my own research, and what I've learned was astounding. Mining not only strips our lands, it also strips people of their identities, their livelihoods and their lives. So who's being threatened? Northern Dynasty Minerals or the people who occupy the region?

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Keep gold industry's image untarnished
Radhika Sarin - Washington, D.C.
Juneau Empire
April 3, 2007

http://juneauempire.com/stories/040307/let_20070403003.shtml

Your March 26 article, "Mine industry prepares for new battles," fails to note that gold mining companies already spend millions of dollars on campaigns to promote gold consumption and jewelry sales. The World Gold Council is a marketing organization formed and funded by gold mining companies, including Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp., the parent company of Coeur Alaska, which is building the Kensington Mine in Southeast Alaska. In 2005, the council spent $51 million, primarily on advertising campaigns in India, China, the Middle East, United States, and Italy - the world's largest markets of gold consumption.

According to its own materials, the World Gold Council also engaged in advocacy efforts, such as lobbying the U.S. government against a proposal to help fund debt relief for the world's poorest nations through sales of gold reserves held by the International Monetary Fund. The mining companies that are members of the World Gold Council account for more than 40 percent of all gold mining. Glitzy ad campaigns aside, perhaps the best thing the council can do to protect gold's reputation from being tarnished is to ensure that its members conduct their mining operations in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. It can start with a guarantee that Coeur Alaska won't turn Lower Slate Lake into a mine waste dump.

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For higher prices, Alaskans should start promoting wild, fresh salmon
Dennis Albert
Anchorage Daily News
March 29, 2007

http://www.adn.com/opinion/letters/story/8748908p-8650524c.html

Why do halibut fishermen get $5 per pound for their fish and salmon fishermen only get 60 cents? That's what a lot of salmon fishermen are asking themselves.

I'll tell you why. Since halibut went to individual fishing quotas several years ago, most halibut goes out to the fresh domestic market. The fish sells itself. All these halibut guys have to do is get the fish to market. The demand is increasing and so is the price.

What about salmon? That's a different story. Salmon goes into the can. Salmon that doesn't go into the can is frozen and sent to Japan, except Japan doesn't even want it because they like cheaper farmed salmon. We do this because that's what the processors are geared up to do and have been doing for almost 75 years. After the fish is sold and the processors take their profit, they give the fishermen what's left, and it isn't much some years -- 50 to 60 cents per pound last year in Bristol Bay where I fish.

How about sending salmon out fresh? Don't tell me we are too remote or have too many fish. Fresh fish comes into the United States from all over the world in far larger quantities than we have. We need to develop the fresh market for wild salmon.

And we wonder why the price is 60 cents.

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Pebble opposition
Charlie Seidl
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
March 28, 2007

http://newsminer.com/2007/04/02/6258/#more-6258

To the editor:

My family and I are strongly against the “Pebble Mine” and support the proposed Hammond Refuge.

I am an Alaska Native and member of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation and Koliganek Natives Limited. Please help to do all you can to stop it and keep our area pristine and free of the Pebble Mine.

Mining like that of the proposed Pebble Mine will destroy our fish habitat, wildlife habitat, our land and our drinking water. Sport, commercial and subsistence fishing will forever be changed for the worse. Inform yourself about the issue, the dangers and let our leaders know where you stand.

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Plan now for gas line's social impacts
Compass: Points of view from the community
By RANDY H. MAGEN
Anchorage Daily News
April 9, 2007

The size and scope of the proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline are staggering. In the best-case scenario, the pipeline will be completed in 2016 at a cost of around $30 billion. Pipeline construction will result in 6,500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. Over its life, the pipeline could contribute $44 billion to the state treasury

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http://www.adn.com/opinion/compass/story/8778736p-8680219c.html

Fisheries interests bristle over prospect of Bristol Bay drilling
By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce
April 8. 2007

Commercial fishermen concerned that offshore exploration might cause irreparable ecological damage say the relatively small amount of recoverable oil and gas is hardly worth the risk to Bristol Bay's vast salmon fisheries.

Karen Gillis, executive director of the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, points to data gathered by the federal Minerals Management Service that shows mid-point estimates for recoverable resources from the North Aleutian Basin are 0.75 billion barrels of oil and 8.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

To view article in its entirety, please click on

http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/040807/hom_20070408013.shtml