A PETITION TO
BAN MINING THROUGH ALASKA SALMON STREAMS

WHEREAS, Alaska boasts unique and extraordinary wild salmon resources that can endure indefinitely if managed properly;

WHEREAS, Alaska salmon play a vital role in subsistence, sport, commercial and personal use fisheries across the state;

WHEREAS, Alaska salmon support countless families and local economies with jobs, food and revenues across the state;

WHEREAS, other states, including Oregon, Washington and California, once had magnificent salmon runs that fell prey to various development and use pressures;

WHEREAS, large development projects are increasingly encroaching on Alaska salmon fisheries and salmon habitat;

WHEREAS, the proposed Chuitna coal strip mine in Cook Inlet would become the first large project in state history to mine directly through 11 miles of vibrant Alaska salmon stream;

WHEREAS, Alaska currently has no law which bans mining directly through active salmon streams.

WHEREAS, Alaskans’ right to fish, and their right to healthy, well-managed, sustainable salmon stocks, should not be infringed by short-sighted development.

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the undersigned do hereby urge the Governor of Alaska, the Alaska Legislature and state and local officials to support legislation that protects Alaskans’ rights to healthy salmon stocks and that bans the complete removal of any cross section (i.e. bank to bank) of a salmon stream in Alaska.