Bristol Bay Hunt Promotion
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Mine Site photograph by Erin McKittrick
SAA Director Scott Hed
Introduction by Scott Hed, Director of the Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska
To this point, the debate over the future of Alaska’s Bristol Bay region has largely focused on the fishery values of the region. (Visit the Bristol Bay main page to learn more about the background on this issue and the Latest News page for other recent articles.)
While Bristol Bay is home to the world’s largest runs of wild salmon and some of the finest sport fishing to be found anywhere on the planet, the hunting side of the story needs to be told as well. Fishermen and businesses in the fishing industry have really taken hold of this issue and gotten involved. We’re hoping that this is the start of the same thing happening in the hunting world.
Already, major hunting conservation organizations have expressed their positions on protection of Bristol Bay's fish and game resources. The Dallas Safari Club, Wildlife Forever and Izaak Walton League of America have positions which oppose the mining proposals for the Bristol Bay region. Safari Club International and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation have also expressed concern over the development plans. Copies of letters from these groups can be found at the Renewable Resources Coalition's web site, by visiting the “Pebble Scoreboard.”
Please take the time to check out the new information on this page. You’ll find first-hand accounts from hunting guides in the region, a copy of a brand-new ad that will run in Black’s 2009 Wing, Clay, and Waterfowl Buyer’s Guide, and an extremely exciting promotion that could have you on your way to Alaska in 2009 for a once-in-a-lifetime moose hunt!
I’d like to personally thank Alaska Master Guide Clark Whitney and Clark Whitney, Jr. of Alaska Wilderness Trips, Inc., HuntingLife.com, Kimber, Leupold, Sitka Gear, and Polartec for their desire to bring this extremely important issue to the attention of hunters in America and across the globe. Working together, we hope to get more people informed and involved in the fight for Bristol Bay – one of the greatest hunting and angling destinations in the world.
Scott Hed – SAA Director
Drill rig on the divide between Upper Talarik
Creek and South Fork Koktuli River, Pebble East.
Drill rig hose dumping grey slurry into the
tundra, Pebble East.
Northern Dynasty helicopter buzzing over
the mine site.
(Photos by Erin McKittrick)
Hunting in the Bristol Bay Region
Over a year ago, I was introduced to a few hunting guides from Alaska who operate caribou, moose and bear hunts in the Bristol Bay region. While these guides will not dispute the fact that the major impact to the region from proposed mining developments will eventually be to Bristol Bay’s incredible fishery, the truth is that hunting opportunities have already been impacted in the region.
One of these guys has guided hunters for caribou near the headwaters of the Koktuli River – very near “Ground Zero” for the proposed Pebble Mine. He has not been able to take any clients for caribou hunts to the area since 2002. Why not? Because he’s a straight-shooter and an honest businessman. The kind of guy who won’t take your hard-earned money for your dream remote Alaska hunt if it’s not going to be the experience you are expecting. While he retains his permits to operate in the area, he’s not hunted there in recent years due to the increasingly intolerable helicopter traffic from the mining operations. You see, Pebble is only in its exploration phase and already the ability to enjoy a remote Alaska hunt is being affected. Just imagine what would happen if the project were approved…an access road to this remote region (easier road access can certainly have effects on game populations in ways other than just roads possibly impeding animal movements), 50,000 one-ton blasts to blow the monstrous hole in the ground for the open-pit part of the Pebble project, a series of five huge earthen dams built in this seismically active area to (hopefully) hold back the man-made lake of toxic mining byproducts, and a population spurt in the area as up to 2,000 workers descend to build and operate the mine. If game species and hunting opportunities are already being affected by the exploratory crews and their helicopter flights, what lies ahead will likely be much worse.
Alaska guide Clark Whitney, Jr. has hunted the area around the proposed Pebble Mine site for decades. Together with his father, Alaska Master Guide Clark Whitney, they have guided hunters in the region for caribou, moose, brown and black bear for over 25 years. Says Whitney of the impacts that mining would have on the hunting opportunities, “I shot my first trophy bull caribou right at the mouth of Talarik Creek (one of the creeks that would be drained to provide water for the mine) when I was 13 years old, and the mine footprint area is a traditional calving grounds for the Mulchatna caribou herd. If this mine is permitted, it will have a devastating effect on these animals. Right now, the Mulchatna herd is at a very low population relative to its historic size. These animals typically concentrate even more heavily between the Mulchatna and Nushagak River drainages when their population is down, making them even more vulnerable right now to disturbances and other impacts caused by the mining exploration crews. This is a horrible location and the absolute wrong time for a proposed development like Pebble Mine.”
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HuntingLife.com and Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska Team up for Conservation
Effort Launched to Raise Awareness of the Growing Threat in Alaska’s Bristol Bay Region
For Immediate Release
July 11, 2008
Today marks the launch of a special campaign aimed at raising awareness among America’s hunters about a very serious threat facing one of the world’s most iconic sporting destinations: Alaska’s famed Bristol Bay region. While the world of sportfishing has been more aware of the plans to turn this area in southwest Alaska, which is home to the world’s most productive wild salmon fishery and tremendous angling and hunting opportunities, into a massive mining district, the time has come for hunters and the hunting community to further engage in this monumental conservation battle.
“HuntingLife.com has been committed to conservation from day one so it was a natural partnership to work with the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska to protect such amazing resources like Bristol Bay and the Tongass National Forest. Bristol Bay is one of those areas in America where sportsmen from all walks of life dream of hunting moose, caribou and bears or wetting a line pursuing the mighty salmon and trout. Partnering with the Sportman’s Alliance for Alaska on this wonderful project was a no-brainer for Team HuntingLife,” said HuntingLife.com founder Kevin C. Paulson.
For anyone not familiar with the debate raging in Bristol Bay, here is a brief primer. Bristol Bay is home to the largest runs of wild salmon left on the planet, with tens of millions of fish returning every year. The salmon form the cornerstone of an incredibly rich and complex ecosystem which also supports some of the finest trophy wild rainbow trout fishing found in the world and additional angling opportunities for Dolly Varden, arctic char, lake trout, arctic grayling, and northern pike. Of course the salmon also feed the large population of brown and black bears found in the region. Hunters have traveled to the Bristol Bay area for decades to pursue not only bear, but also trophy moose and caribou from the famed Mulchatna herd in a wild and remote setting. This sporting Mecca is located in southwest Alaska, approximately 250 miles from Anchorage, and is only accessible by plane or boat. In the midst of this rich fish and game habitat, a foreign partnership (one British company and one Canadian company) have plans to develop the largest open-pit copper/gold/molybdenum mine in North America. If approved, the Pebble Mine could include a massive open pit mine, an adjacent underground mine, 5 huge earthen dams (including two of the largest on the planet – one being 4.3 miles long and over 740 feet tall), and a tailings lake covering as much as 15 square miles to hold back the toxic byproducts of the mining process. Even more alarming, the Pebble Mine could become the centerpiece of what the mining industry has referred to as a world-class mining district. Over 1,000 square miles of state lands are already staked with mining claims in the region and the federal Bureau of Land Management has proposed lifting the mining restrictions on over 1 million acres of lands under its management in the Bristol Bay region. It’s not hard to imagine that such development in one of the world’s premier hunting and angling destinations would have an impact on fish and game and sportsperson’s opportunities to pursue them.
Scott Hed serves as the Director of the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska (SAA), whose goal is to engage sportspersons in the battle for Bristol Bay’s future. “The need is urgent right now to engage hunters in this fight. Hunters and anglers both have a lot at stake in the future of Bristol Bay. While Bristol Bay is most well-known as one of the top sportfishing destinations on the planet, it’s also a premier place for big game hunting. Hunters travel from across the globe to pursue trophy moose, caribou, and bear in this region,” said Hed. In the past year, the Dallas Safari Club, Wildlife Forever, and Izaak Walton League of America have expressed their opposition to the plans to turn Bristol Bay into an industrial mining zone.
Today the SAA is launching a new page on its Web site to help raise awareness among hunters about this critical issue. Visitors will learn more about hunting in Bristol Bay, view an upcoming advertisement to be placed in Black’s Wing, Clay, and Waterfowl 2009 Guide, and be able to make a donation to the Bristol Bay conservation campaign. Perhaps most exciting is the drawing in which donors will be entered.
Hed added “Through the tremendous support and leadership of conservation-minded companies like HuntingLife.com, Kimber, Leupold, Sitka Gear and Polartec, I’m thrilled that hunters will now be able to learn more about the Bristol Bay region and how they can get involved in the fight to protect an iconic sporting destination. The participation of the Whitney family and Alaska Wilderness Trips, Inc. really put the icing on the cake as we were developing this promotion.”
For a suggested donation of $50, donors will be entered in a drawing for the following prize package:
- 10-day fully guided Alaska moose hunt for 1 hunter in 2009 with Alaska Wilderness Trips, Inc.
- Kimber Model 84M or 8400 Montana rifle in winner’s choice of caliber
- Leupold VX-II 3-9x40mm scope
- 90% Jacket, Ascent pant, and base layer system from Sitka Gear and Polartec
The retail value of the package is approximately $11,700.
“Putting together such an amazing package has been a blast, this is a hunt that any hunter would be more than excited to be a part of,” said HuntingLife.com’s Paulson. The hunt promotion will be limited to the first 500 qualifying donations and early responses from hunters aware of the upcoming opportunity to participate indicate that it will be very popular.
When asked why his company chose to support this project, Patrick Mundy, Leupold’s Marketing Communications Supervisor stated simply “As members of the hunting and shooting industry, we are in full support of protecting places like Bristol Bay to preserve hunting lands for future generations for several reasons. Not only is the natural environment critical to conserve, but without hunting lands to access, we lose hunters – which we can ill afford in this day and age.”
Jonathan Hart, Founder and co-owner of Sitka Gear echoed those sentiments. “As a company involved in the hunting industry, Sitka fully supports, and is extremely thankful for, the hard work that the Sportsman¹s Alliance of Alaska is doing to protect the Bristol Bay Region. The bottom line is that the mining proposals would forever compromise the health of the area. The tundra, the big game, and the fisheries in Southwest Alaska are a sustainable resource. The long-term health of the area, both in an economic and an ecosystem sense, depends on those resources. If my kids and your kids can’t hunt and fish there when they’re older, we’ve screwed up big time.”
For Alaskan guide Clark Whitney, Jr. who will be guiding the moose hunt for the winner of the drawing, the matter is even more personal. “I shot my first trophy bull caribou right at the mouth of Talarik Creek (one of the creeks that would be drained to provide water for the mine) when I was 13 years old, and the mine footprint area is a traditional calving grounds for the Mulchatna caribou herd. If this mine is permitted, it will have a devastating effect on these animals and this region’s wild character will forever be lost.”
Contributions to this promotion will be designated for brochures and other informational materials, travel for staff and volunteers to make Bristol Bay conservation presentations to clubs and organizations, day-to-day expenses and other direct costs.
“For someone looking to lend support to an incredibly important conservation campaign and possibly end up on that Alaska hunting trip of a lifetime, this is a tremendous way to help make a difference. While we can’t match the dollars that the mining companies are throwing at this fight, sportspersons have always shown a passion and a willingness to fight for places they care about,” concluded SAA’s Hed.
