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Tongass Guide Academy
The success of this program caught the attention of several other Alaska regions searching for the same education and employment opportunities for their youth; this year marked the first time the Guide Academy model was applied elsewhere.
The Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy was created to provide local indigenous youth with work force development opportunities for sustainable outdoor employment. In the past 15 academies, the program has turned out 183 graduates with approximately 25 of them holding full-time, seasonal employment at lodges in Bristol Bay. The success of this program…
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Guiding the future: Stories from the 2024 Bristol Bay Fly Fishing Academy
Inspiring the next generation of guides and conservationists in Bristol Bay Early in the Alaskan summer, darkness flickers away and daylight explodes. It’s a season of anticipation and a time to hatch plans for long fishing days on the water. The excitement is palpable, especially for those headed out to fish in Bristol Bay; the…
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Legislation to strengthen protections for Bristol Bay announced
A new bill could protect the world’s most productive salmon fishery An important step has been taken to permanently safeguard one of the last great wonders of the salmonid world. U.S. Representative Mary Peltola (D-AK) has introduced a bill that would Congressionally prohibit the discharge of mine waste into rivers, lakes and wetlands that surround…
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says no to Pebble. Again.
After years of review, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it would uphold its permit denial decision for the proposed Pebble Mine, continuing to block industrial mining from developing on top of the world’s most prolific wild salmon fishery. History repeats itself The Corps first denied the Clean Water Act 404 permit back…
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Whale snacks and moose meatballs: The taste of subsistence life in Bristol Bay
Have you ever heard of moose tartar? Did you know herring eggs taste how the sea smells? How about that you can make ice cream out of seal fat? I didn’t either. Until I attended United Tribes of Bristol Bay’s Traditional Foods Feast in Dillingham, Alaska. Dillingham is a fishing village perched on the glistening…
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A National Network of Priority Waters
Tom Sawyer was made to whitewash the fence as a punishment for being mischievous, but he appeared to be having such a good time with the chore that soon all his friends were bribing him with apples, feathers and other trinkets so they could paint, too. There’s a lesson in Mark Twain’s story that speaks…
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Supreme Court rejection is another blow for Pebble Mine
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected hearing a lawsuit filed by the State of Alaska against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) in an attempt to strike down Clean Water Act protections for the headwaters of Bristol Bay. This unprecedented lawsuit was a last-ditch effort to keep the dying Pebble Mine project alive. Bristol Bay. Photo by…
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