Ground Truth Trekking: Expeditions to explore environmental issues.
Thunderstorm in the Pebble Valley
Pebble Mine Proposal
In 2005 and 2006 we journeyed through the rivers downstream of a proposed gold/copper mine in the Bristol Bay watershed. This project predates the Ground Truth Trekking site, so menu links above go to my Pebble Mine page at aktrekking.com.
Read the Photoessay of our month-long journey
My Pebble Mine page has an extensive set of photos of the region (free for non-profit use), facts on the project, news, and stories I've written about my journeys in the region. This project dates from before the birth of Ground Truth Trekking, so you can find it on my Alaska trekking webpage.
As part of the Journey on the Wild Coast project, we'll be traveling through the Pebble Valley in the winter of 2008, photographing the place and the exploration activity. Then we will travel from Pebble along Lake Iliamna to Cook Inlet, following the route of the proposed mine road.
The Pebble Mine project is a controversial proposal by Northern Dynasty Minerals to build one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world, in southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna. Northern Dynasty has not yet applied for permits, but their current proposal involves both a large open pit and an underground mine, as well as removal of the water from the headwaters of Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River ( important fish habitats). The site sits at the headwaters of two major Bristol Bay drainages: the ( Nushagak and the Kvichak), and potentially poses a large threat to the region's water and salmon. This proposal has become a major political issue in Alaska, pitting pro-mining forces against local native villages and commercial and sport fishermen.
Click here to find all my previous crazy Alaska expeditons