Alaska

British-born photographer Nick Hall may seem an unlikely source for the images in "Seasons of Subsistence," an ongoing film project documenting Native life in Bristol Bay...

PERMITS – Teck Resources Limited and partner, NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. Feb. 17 said Trustees for Alaska; and the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment have joined local tribal and environmental organizations to appeal the renewal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of the Red Dog Mine's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, which was due to take effect March 1. The latest appeal was filed by the same groups that last month challenged a State of Alaska decision certifying that the same permit complied with the state's water quality standards.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Trout Unlimited and several other organizations are calling on the state to protect the Koktuli River in southwest Alaska.

The conservation group wants the river designated as an Outstanding National Resource Water, which is a designation under the Clean Water Act.

Trout Unlimited says the river is facing unprecedented threats from the proposed Pebble Mine, a huge copper and gold deposit near the world's best salmon streams.

The designation would bar any new or increased pollution discharges within the river.

Trout Unlimited today has nominated the Koktuli River as an Outstanding National Resource Water, a designation which through the Clean Water Act would give the Koktuli River the highest protection to the river. The Koktuli River is near the site of the proposed Pebble mine, a gold and copper prospect.

Several conservation and business groups filed a petition with state regulators on Tuesday, asking them to designate a river near the Pebble mine prospect for special protection.

The groups want the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to designate the Koktuli River as an outstanding national resource water under the federal Clean Water Act. Granting that status to the river would disallow new or increased pollution discharges, the groups said.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTVA-CBS 11 News) In the days following the developer of Pebble Mine's admission, and $45,000 fine, for withdrawing water from 45 exploration areas it did not have permits for, a group calling itself concerned Alaskans rallied outside of the state Department of Natural Resources on Thursday, Feb. 18.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries has sent a letter to state House and Senate leaders asking for a comprehensive legislative review of the state's permitting system in light of the proposed Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska.

The Dillingham City Council passed a resolution on Thursday, Jan. 7, which opposes the proposed Pebble copper/gold mine in the Bristol Bay area.