December 28, 2022 — An effort involving an Alaska Native corporation and land conservation groups will permanently protect 44,000 acres in Southwest Alaska and block a key transportation route to the embattled Pebble copper and gold project, the groups announced.
The land, owned by the Pedro Bay Corp., is located off the northeastern shores of Lake Iliamna, the largest lake in Alaska, in an area where project developer Pebble Limited Partnership had favored an access road to the mineral deposit from Cook Inlet.
The Conservation Fund and Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust worked with the Native corporation on the agreement. The Conservation Fund will purchase the easements for $20 million while the Bristol Bay land trust will hold the easements and work with the corporation to enforce their terms.
“They are perpetual easements and this is important primarily because this is prime salmon habitat,” said Tim Troll, executive director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust.
The mineral deposit is located about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage near Bristol Bay and the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.
Pebble Limited has pursued development of a mine in the region for more than a decade, but the project has faced strong opposition from tribes, conservation groups and fishermen. Pebble Limited insists the mine can operate safely without damaging the fishery.
The mine faces stiff headwinds from the federal government. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed blocking the mine under a special agency action, something mine opponents say could permanently doom the project. The agency is expected to make a final decision by February. A different agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has rejected the project as well. Pebble is appealing that decision, but the EPA decision would trump whatever the Corps decides.