Alaska

Scott Keller, Independent Presidential contender for 2012, takes strong stand for the environment by supporting the Alaska natural Gas Development Authority's Propane Project and by preserving Alaska's wilderness by coming out strongly against Alaskas' Pebble Mine Project, drilling in ANWR, the Susitna Dam Project, and the Parks Highway Natural Gas Pipeline Route.

A new poll by the Alaska chapter of The Nature Conservancy of some 500 registered voters shows overwhelming statewide support for policies protecting salmon habitat across the state.

Ninety-six percent of Alaskans surveyed said salmon are essential to the Alaskan way of life, and 97 percent said salmon are an important part of the Alaska economy, according to results of the poll released today.

A new poll by the Alaska chapter of The Nature Conservancy of some 500 registered voters shows overwhelming statewide support for policies protecting salmon habitat across the state.

Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Program, together with partner organizations, is sponsoring the third annual Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy later this month near the southwest Alaska community of King Salmon. 

This spring, as millions of Bristol Bay salmon begin their epic migration back to their home streams, 13 young Bristol Bay residents will spend a week exploring what it takes to pursue a career as a fly fishing guide on Bristol Bay’s world-class fishing rivers.

Steel-grey clouds loom over Ekwok as cold raindrops pelt the Nushagak River. This famed southwest Alaska river — one of the largest producers of Chinook salmon in the state—flows past this remote Yup’ik Eskimo village before draining into Bristol Bay. The river and its abundance of fish form the lifeblood of this community of 130 residents, about 70 miles from the mouth of the bay.

At a time when the shell of the earth has cracked and the ocean heaved a mortal wave upon a shore of vulnerable nuclear plants, a small miracle is playing out in the biggest river of the American West. Spring Chinook salmon, the alpinists of the maritime world, are following biological imperative and climbing their way up the Columbia to spawn and die.

The prospect of the Pebble Mine is a looming figure for many in Bristol Bay. While the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with a scientific assessment of the watershed, those of various industries connected to the salmon population would like to see further action.