Native Corporation Secures Protection Of 44,000 Acres Of Bristol Bay Land From Pebble Mine

As the Environmental Protection Agency mulls over a Recommended Determination to add more permanent Bristol Bay protection from the Pebble Mine, one Native corporation took matters into its own hands and made a move to protect land from possible use in the gold and copper mine. Here’s the Washington Post with more:

Pedro Bay Corp., an Alaska Native group that owns land near Bristol Bay, announced last year that nearly 90 percent of its shareholders voted to let the Conservation Fund, an environmental nonprofit organization, buy conservation easements on more than 44,000 acres.

The corporation will reveal on Thursday that a successful $20 million, 18-month fundraising effort enabled the Conservation Fund to purchase three conservation easements on the land. The new protections cover a portion of the proposed mining road, which would be used to transport ore. 

The protections also cover the most productive spawning and rearing habitats for sockeye salmon within the Iliamna Lake watersheds.