Alaska

Victory for Bristol Bay

Wild Salmon Center February 01, 2023

On January 31, 2023, the U.S. EPA finalized Clean Water Act (“404c”) protections for the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak rivers in Alaska. These are two of the most important rivers feeding the world’s most productive salmon stronghold – the region of Bristol Bay, Alaska.

This EPA action caps a decades-long fight led by Tribes in the region, who asked the EPA to use its authority to protect Bristol Bay’s irreplaceable resources in 2010.

The action will stop Pebble Mine and take the threat of mining the Pebble deposit off the table. And we feel confident that the decision will hold up in court, should Pebble choose to challenge it.

After a decade of fighting this mine, it’s time to celebrate. We stopped Pebble – for good.

Wild Salmon Center

The leading group working to protect the strongest wild salmon rivers around the entire North Pacific.