Southwest Alaska is a vast complex of lakes, rivers, streams, and tundra that drain into Bristol Bay and support the most productive salmon fishery in the world. The landscape is defined by some of America’s most spectacular and least known national parks, Katmai and Lake Clark; two national wildlife refuges, Becharof and Togiak; the largest state park, Wood-Tikchik; and Walrus Islands State Game Reserve. Most all of these locations also support coveted recreational fishing that adds millions more to the economy. The proposed PEBBLE mine would be sited adjacent Lake Clark National Park and in the headwaters of the two most important rivers in the entire salmon fishery. The mine would be the largest open-pit copper and cyanide gold-leach mine in the world, use more electricity on a daily basis than the city of Anchorage, and the cyanide-slurry containment ponds would be series of “lagoons” covering about 20-square-miles. Robert will present his years of work dedicated to the NO PEBBLE MINE campaign which helped him earn the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorer’s Club of NY, recognizing him as a “Visionary of Conservation.”
