Alaska Politicians Ask Potus To Protect Transboundary Salmon Rivers From Mining

Canadian mine spills hurt Alaskan waters & our fish. The AK delegation wrote the president requesting financial assurances for transboundary Taku, Stikine, & Unuk rivers that flow from British Columbia into Southeast Alaska and the Tongass National Forest. https://t.co/SBYE7gB56m

— Rep. Mary Peltola (@Rep_Peltola) August 17, 2024

Alaska’s political delegation representing the state in Washington, Republican Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, and Democrat Mary Pelota in the House of Representatives, sent a joint letter to President Joe Biden to make protecting Southeast Alaska’s transboundary rivers amid Canadian mining operations that conservation and environmental groups argue that could devastate migrating salmon and steelhead.

Here are some highlights from the letter:

For over a decade, the Alaska congressional delegation has expressed grave concerns about the longstanding impacts and future threats of abandoned, developing, and operating mine projects located in British Columbia (B.C.) near the Canadian headwaters of Southeast Alaska’s rivers. Under three different presidents, our delegation has pushed for the Department of State to secure binding protections and financial assurances for the transboundary Taku, Stikine, and Unuk rivers that flow from B.C. into Southeast Alaska and the Tongass National Forest. Without unified action from the executive branch, Canadian mining activity in this region will increasingly endanger U.S. communities and resources, such as salmon, without any mechanism for recourse or compensation. …

We request the administration publicly and immediately support two calls for action: 1) Canada cleans up its abandoned Tulsequah Chief mine, which has been polluting international waters for more than 66 years; and (2) Canada, the U.S. government, the transboundary U.S. states and Canadian provinces/territories, Indigenous groups, and communities establish an international framework to prevent and resolve disputes in these transboundary waters, most likely under the International Joint Commission (IJC) and the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. We have worked hard to elevate the long-standing concerns of Alaskans, calling for the establishment of binding and enforceable international protections and financial assurances for any potential impacts in transboundary watersheds.

Over the last ten years, our delegation hasremained steadfast in our efforts to defend Alaskan interests by securing funding through the federal appropriations process for water quality monitoring on U.S.-B.C. transboundary rivers, urging funding restrictions for Canadian projects, penning letters with our Congressional colleagues to elected leaders in B.C., visiting Ottawa and B.C. to meet with Canadian officials on this issue, convening IJC fact-finding missions and in-person meetings in Southeast Alaska, and speaking out publicly.

Here’s some reaction from Salmon Beyond Borders:

Alaska Congressional delegation to President Biden: ‘Without unified action from the executive branch, Canadian mining activity in this region will increasingly endanger U.S. communities and resources’

Delegation urges Biden to demand immediate cleanup of Canada’s abandoned Tulsequah Chief Mine, International Joint Commission action

AUGUST 16, 2024 

JUNEAU, AK—Salmon Beyond Borders applauds the Alaska Congressional delegation’s recent call to President Joe Biden to protect Alaska’s transboundary salmon rivers, in the wake of Canada’s catastrophic cyanide spill at the Eagle gold mine in the upper Yukon river system. In a pointed letter sent this week, the delegation urges President Biden to publicly and immediately demand: 1) that Canada cleans up the Tulsequah Chief mine in northern British Columbia (B.C.), which has been contaminating waters flowing into Alaska for almost 70 years, and 2) support the establishment of a binding international framework for U.S.-Canada transboundary salmon rivers that are currently and potentially impacted by Canada’s large-scale gold mining boom. These enforceable watershed protections and financial assurances would most likely be developed through the International Joint Commission, which prevents and resolves disputes under the U.S.-Canada Boundary Waters Treaty.

“We thank Senator Murkowski, Senator Sullivan, and Representative Peltola for this important, urgent letter,” said Salmon Beyond Borders Director Breanna Walker. “The recent cyanide disaster and fish kills at Canada’s Eagle gold mine in the Yukon watershed, and the tenth anniversary of the massive mine waste dam failure at Canada’s Mount Polley mine in B.C., make clear that Tribes and Alaskans need seats at the table when it comes to shaping the future of our shared wild salmon rivers. The Alaska Congressional delegation, dozens of Alaska Tribes and municipalities, and thousands of Alaskans have been making this request of three different U.S. presidents, all while Canada’s failure-prone acid mine problem over our border grows. President Biden, please heed our bipartisan Congressional delegation’s requests to safeguard our clean water, wild salmon, and healthy communities now — so we don’t have to make the same request of a fourth Presidential administration.”

In the letter, the delegation writes, “Without unified action from the executive branch, Canadian mining activity in this region will increasingly endanger U.S. communities and resources, such as salmon, without any mechanism for recourse or compensation…We urge your administration to initiate a proactive and holistic strategy for resolving transboundary governance challenges along the U.S.-B.C. border to augment the significant work by Congress to facilitate and properly fund a federal response. This strategy must include a binding and enforceable international framework between Canada, the U.S., Indigenous groups and communities for preventing and resolving disputes in these transboundary waters under the International Joint Commission and Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. These efforts must also include the full remediation of the Tulsequah Chief mine.”

Background: The T’aak? (Taku), Shtax’héen (Stikine), and Jóonax (Unuk) watersheds, which flow from the glaciated boreal forests of northern British Columbia into the temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska, total about 35,000 square miles of some of the last remaining wild salmon habitat left on Earth. Together, these iconic rivers and their watersheds are roughly about the size of Maine. The Taku is the largest roadless watershed on the West Coast of North America; the Stikine is the fastest free-flowing river in North America. These rivers are home to all five species of wild Alaska salmon, brown bears, moose, Dolly Varden, hooligan, steelhead, and many other species significant for cultural and economic well-being. These rivers have nourished Indigenous peoples since time immemorial and are modern-day centers of culture and commerce. Now, the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk rivers account for nearly $50 million in economic activity annually in Alaska and are integral to the overall regional $1 billion annual salmon fishing industry and $1 billion annual visitor industry. 

Three large-scale B.C. gold-copper mines with tailings dams currently operate in the region, and more than 100 B.C. mine projects are in some phase of exploration, proposal, or development here. Over 80% of B.C. mine claims in these river valleys are within 3.1 miles (5 km) of a river or stream; 18% of B.C. mine claims are currently covered by glaciers; and as glaciers melt, studies have shown much of those glaciated areas would become salmon habitat if not dug up for gold first. 

B.C. has a more than $1 billion Canadian shortfall for cleanup of mines post-closure, and does not analyze cumulative effects from multiple mines. At the same time, B.C. has permitted 20% of these transboundary watersheds to be staked with mineral claims, including almost  90% of the B.C. side of the Unuk watershed and virtually all lands adjacent to the Iskut River, the Stikine River’s largest tributary.

Salmon Beyond Borders is an Alaska-based campaign working with fishermen, business owners, community leaders and concerned citizens, alongside Tribes and First Nations on both sides of the Alaska-B.C. border, to defend and sustain our transboundary wild salmon rivers, jobs, and way of life.