BRISTOL BAY
Todd Radenbaugh
WHY TO LOVE THIS PLACE
Bristol Bay is the largest commercial sockeye salmon producing region in the world and home to one of the most prolific king salmon runs left on Earth. Roughly the size of West Virginia, the Bristol Bay Watershed includes nine major river systems tucked between Katmai National Park, Lake Clark National Park and the nation’s largest state park — Wood-Tikchik State Park.
LOCATION

HOT SPOT
Bristol Bay is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire and home to three active volcanoes: Mt. Veniaminof, Iliamna and Redoubt.
GREAT LAKE
Lake Iliamna is the largest lake in Alaska, and the third largest lake located completely within the borders of the United States.
BEAR CENTRAL
Bristol Bay is home to the world’s greatest concentration of giant coastal grizzly (brown) bears — and there's a reason for that.
ECONOMIC ENGINE
The combined Bristol Bay fishery is valued at $1.5 billion and supports more than 14,000 jobs.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Recreation and tourism spending in Bristol Bay bring in $90 million in revenue annually to Alaska.
THE FIGHT TO PROTECT BRISTOL BAY FROM THE PROPOSED PEBBLE MINE
Pebble Mine is a massive proposed copper, gold and other mineral mine in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska. If fully developed, Pebble Mine could produce 10.2 billion tons of toxic waste that will be stored at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay Watershed forever. Even a small amount of the poisonous acid and toxic waste runoff from the mine will destroy the salmon habitat and the Alaskans who rely on it. And taxpayers will be left with the bill to clean up the destruction.
Environmental impact studies say the mine will directly impact thousands of acres of wetlands and hundreds of miles of streams, and the Environmental Protection Agency concluded that any mining would pose an irreversible risk to species in the area.
*UPDATE* The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it has denied a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, determining that “the applicant’s plan for the discharge of fill material does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines” and concluding that “the proposed project is contrary to the public interest.”