I stopped by a grade school in  Astoria, Oregon before the FisherPoets Gathering. I wanted to reason with some students and get their feedback. I asked “What would happened if somebody stepped on a chicken egg?”, and their response was, “I know what would happen you will kill the baby chicken!” Then I asked another question, “What would happen if you walked in the steam where all the wild salmon eggs are laying ready to spawn?” Their answer was, “Silly don’t you know, you would kill the baby salmon!” What do you adults think would happen if the streams in time were contaminated by harmful chemicals flowing down the stream into the life cycle of the wild salmon? The children know the truth of the matter: It’s greed that blinds!

History shows the outcome of mining failures. Look at what will happen to the natural habitat of birds, animals and sea life. 

I can only speak for myself, I am not in favor of the pebble mine. Why should we allow someone to drive with bad breaks and eventually kill someone. Stop them before they get on the road.

LLOYD MONTGOMERY fished as a way of life as a commercial fisherman for dungeness crab and wild salmon in the waters of Washington State and Alaska for 47, going on 48, years. He has been involved in herring seining, wild salmon seining, setnetting & drift gillnetting out of Cordova Alaska. He crewed in 1994 for 10 days during the peak of reds on a drift boat in Bristol Bay, and also herring seined out of Togiak. He presently lives in Wasilla, Alaska. He was hired this past year by the Chugach Alaska Native Corporation to work the Gulf of Mexico as an oil spill advisor, and for the first time in his life he took seven weeks off from his fishing career to do so.

Click here to read a poem about the life cycle of wild salmon by Lloyd. 

Each month someone new will be featured here. If you'd like to be the next highlighted person against Pebble, it's easy. Simply send a little about yourself and why you're against the mine along with a picture to stoppebblemine@gmail.com

1. Write a letter.
2. Eat Wild Alaskan Salmon.
3. Tell everyone you know about the Pebble threat.

In 2010, the Bristol Bay Fishing Industry brought in 153 million dollars with almost 29 million Sockeye Salmon being harvested.* Commercial fishing has been going on in these waters for over a century. Because of the careful management, the Bristol Bay Fishery is sustainable and as long as it stays carefully managed should continue indefinately. This industry employs thousands of people every year. The folks at Pebble Mine have offered a handful of local jobs for 50 years. 50 years of employment, and then Bristol Bay is left with a hole in the Earth over a mile wide and a lake of toxic waste. Doesn't make much economic sense. The companies are based in London and Canada. So while they line their pockets with gold, the United States loses one of it's National Treasures. Tourism in Bristol Bay brings in millions each year. With global warming bringing temperatures sweltering in the summers, more and more people will be wanting to migrate north for a vacation. 

*Data collected from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's 2010 Season Summary

There are people living in Bristol Bay. Thousands of Native people who have their entire culture intertwined with living off the land. They fill their freezers with salmon, moose, caribou, berries and other foods from the land. In the villages of Bristol Bay the predominant language is not English. These people have the right to continue their way of life. To pass on their dances, language, and stories to their children. Creating a toxic tailings pond that will someday leach into the water is cultural genocide. There is no way for the Pebble Partnership to assure an infinite watch on their toxic waste. When this poison gets into our streams it will force people to relocate. 

To build the largest open pit mine in North America at the headwaters of the two largest Sockeye Salmon producing rivers on the planet seems preposterous. But that is exactly what two foreign mining companies are proposing in Southwest Alaska at the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak Rivers. These rivers have had millions of healthy fish returning year after year for millennia. This area is wild. It is home to grizzlies, wolves, caribou, wolverines, foxes, otters, moose, and much more. All of these animals thrive here in Bristol Bay because of the abundance of clean water. At a time where clean water is becoming more and more rare, it only makes sense to preserve our last remaining supplies. Pebble also sits in a seismically active area. So the promises made of keeping the toxic waste contained are unattainable.