EPA Will Assess Bristol Bay

February 8, 2011 By: Marshall Cutchin

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that they will begin an assessment of the impact of large-scale development of Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed — an area that has been under intense scrutiny since 2006 when Trout Unlimited and other groups first warned of the impact of the proposed Pebble Mine.
“The Bristol Bay watershed is essential to the health, environment and economy of Alaska,” said EPA Regional Administrator Dennis McLerran. “Gathering data and getting public input now, before development occurs, just makes sense.
“This is an issue that unites the complete spectrum of the sporting community,” said Scott Hed, Director of the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska. “When you have got catch and release anglers and makers of fly rods and reels working in concert with big game hunters and firearm manufacturers, that’s a powerful set of interests – all in agreement that large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed is simply the wrong idea in the wrong place.”