The push to open a gold-and-copper mine in a rich fishing area has split Alaskans along unusual political lines.
Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, adjacent to the Bering Sea in the state’s southwest corner, is rich with large and productive reserves of natural resources. One of those resources, the world’s largest sockeye-salmon fishery, generates anestimated $1.5 billion annually. The thousands of pristine acres of surrounding wetlands, ponds, and lakes are treasured because there isn’t much untouched land left in America. Bristol Bay is also home to a large population of Alaska Natives, whose cultures and lifestyles revolve around the region’s “wildness” and especially its salmon. Those are the living, breathing resources of Bristol Bay. And then there are the inorganic resources—oil and gas and mineral deposits, not yet fully explored or exploited but representing a whole lot more wealth than Alaska’s accessing now.
