March 8, 2023 — Bristol Bay Tribes, fishermen, businesses, and allies again reiterated their opposition to mining that jeopardizes Bristol Bay’s cultures and economies in response to the latest mineral exploration efforts in the region.
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on February 28 issued a public notice of an application from Stuy Mines LLC for mineral exploration activities along Kaskanak Creek in the Bristol Bay watershed, located southwest of the Pebble deposit. The public notice from the DNR on this proposal for mining exploration (which was submitted in June 2022) in the watershed triggered a two-week public comment period ending on March 14. The Stuy Mines project at Kaskanak is one of 20 projects in exploration in the Bristol Bay watershed, and this notice comes weeks after the EPA ended the threat of the Pebble Mine using their authority under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, heeding the calls of Tribes, commercial fishermen, and people in the region who have spoken out and urged the EPA to act for decades.