http://www.renewableresourcecoalition.org

Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - Fly Fish America - September 2007 Issue - Index

polluting or diverting rivers or streams used by salmon for spawning.
Unfortunately, Northern Dynasty lobbyists beat it into the ground.
The combination of a fence-sitting governor, a pro-mining DNR
commissioner, and a legislature that bends to the will of the mining
lobby makes the fight to stop the Pebble Mine at the state level a
decidedly uphill battle.
Thankfully, uphill battles are Bob Gillam's specialty. The head
guy at McKinley Capital Management in Anchorage, Gillam
founded the Renewable Resources Coalition, the lead organization
in the fight to stop the Pebble Mine, and is funding it out of
his own pocket to the tune of $3 million to $5 million annually.
Deep pockets aren't Bob's only attribute. He's an avid hunter and
fly angler, and a pretty good guy to boot. He put himself, his Chief
Pilot (he has five of them), his 10,000 sq. ft. "cabin? on Lake Clark,
and his pristine 1949 De Havilland Beaver at our disposal for three
days last June. We toured the mine site and fished the local rivers
and lakes, and came away from the experience committed to do
everything in our power to stop this worst of all bad ideas.
What about the Feds? The federal government could also kill
the Pebble Mine by denying the federal permits required to build
and operate it. Better yet, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency-the federal agency charged with enforcement of the Clean
Water Act-could do just that . . . enforce the damned thing! More
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Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River would be permanently dewatered to fill the tailings
lakes. This loss would be bad enough, but it pales in comparison to what would lie ahead.
than any local action, conscientious enforcement of the Clean
Water Act would deal the Pebble Mine the fatal blow it deserves.
But the Feds had better get right on it. Northern Dynasty is
mounting a massive PR campaign, helicoptering nearly 1,000
politicians and other influential Alaskans to the site. They're also
signing up development partners, like London-based Rio Tinto
and Anglo American, two of the world's largest mining companies.
Rio Tinto is involved in the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, where
it partnered with Robert Friedland's Ivanhoe Mines of Vancouver.
Friedland has been dubbed "Toxic Bob? by Forbes magazine for
his role in the largest mining disaster in the United States-Summitville
in Colorado, where toxic chemicals leaking from a tailings
lake have so far cost taxpayers over $200 million to clean up.
This is the real deal, and we're asking for your help. Join the Renewable
Resources Coalition (500 L St., Suite 502, Anchorage, AK
99501; Web: www.renewableresourcescoalition.org; Tel.: 907-
743-1900). Contact your Congressional delegation and insist they
light fires under the EPA to enforce the Clean Water Act, and the Bureau
of Land Management to deny federal permits. And by all means,
e-mail Governor Palin voicing your opposition (http://gov.state.ak.us/
and click on "E-mail the Governor?). A few hundred thousand e-mails
might just get her off the fence, and ". . . show the way for the rest of
the world-that we can be good stewards of God's green Earth.?