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Southwest Alaska, Pebble Mine and Bristol Bay
Robert Glenn Ketchum and Southwest Alaska in Brief
1998 -
Robert Glenn Ketchum started fieldwork in Southwest Alaska recognizing
the areas riches as well as the potential threats. At that time, he had
no idea how large those threats might loom.
2001 - Robert released the book, Rivers Of Life: Southwest Alaska, the Last Great Salmon Fishery , which addressed the protection of the habitat for the sake of the fishery.
2004, Wood-Tikchik: America’s Largest State Park , was published addressing issues of parcel allotment, sell-off and disrupting parklands.
Fuji and Robert Glenn Ketchum organizes traveling exhibit, BRISTOL BAY
AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA: A WORLD OF PARKS AND REFUGES AT THE CROSSROADS.
2005 -
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens takes Bristol Bay off no-drill moratorium
list. George W. Bush offers oil and gas lease. Bills to protect Bristol
Bay are offered in the House and Senate. Robert worked with Maurice
Hinchey's office in Spring of 2008 to hold Capitol Hill press
conference and Newt Gingrich and Mark Udall host EcoVision, a
conference at Reagan Center. Both iLCP and Robert Glenn Ketchum had a
presence at this non-partisan conference. Robert’s Bristol Bay exhibit
was displayed on Earth Day.
2009 - Barack
Obama assumes office. NGO's concentrate on Interior Secretary Ken
Salazar and he withdraws Bristol Bay from leasing availability,
returning it to a fishery but not yet a marine reserve.
2010
- Robert’s hope is that Bristol Bay will become a Marine reserve.
Meanwhile, the price of gold spikes, the prospect of Pebble mine looks
more challenging every day. Many new corporations have joined
investment consortium.
Pebble Mine is
the common name of an advanced mineral exploration project
investigating a very large porphyry copper, and molybdenum
mineral deposit and one of the largest cyanide gold leech mines in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark.
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