Save Bristol Bay. It’s a mission, an organization, and a hash tag. The common theme is to protect Bristol Bay from the threat of the Pebble Mine. Meghan Barker of Trout Unlimited shares her perspective on the threat the proposed Pebble Mine represents to watersheds in the Bristol Bay Region. Pebble is as close as it’s ever been to being approved. If we want to save Bristol Bay, knowledge of what’s happening, and what you can do about it, are key. In order to save Bristol Bay from dangers such as Pebble, sportsmen and women need to take an active, vocal role. Standing by the sidelines won’t cut it.

In this video, Meghan does a masterful job narrating her own whiteboard drawing on where Pebble is in the permitting process, and why this is such a critical time regarding protecting Bristol Bay.

Key players in the Pebble project are the Pebble Partnership, the Army Corps of Engineers, and State and Federal governments. Last year’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) was viewed as woefully inadequate by most in the scientific community and public. Specific areas lacking detail were in regard to risks of tailings dam failure, the high seismic activity of the region, as well as potential damage to the recreation and tourism industries. Over 650,000 comments have been submitted by sportsmen, commercial fishers, tribes and other members of the public, overwhelmingly saying “NO” to Pebble. The State of Alaska, National Park Service and EPA have also called into question the DEIS.

Do your part to save Bristol Bay. Start by watching this video. Familiarize yourself with the weakness in the DEIS, and let your government officials know where you stand. The effort to save Bristol Bay is one of the rare, unique situations where sport anglers, hunters, commercial fishers, subsistence fishers and tribes are all on the same side of the issue. There are no places left in the US that are as unique and unspoiled as the Bristol Bay region. Let’s keep it that way. Be on the right side of history.