Alaska Governor Michael Dunleavy entered office in November 2018 with the same views on the proposed Pebble mine as many of our elected officials.

“Wait for the process,” they said.

While refraining from taking a direct stance on the plan to develop the largest open-pit mine in North America in the headwaters of the most prolific sockeye salmon fishery on the planet, Gov. Dunleavy stated that Pebble will to go through the permitting process. “The outcome of this process will determine if the project meets the standards set forth in law and regulation.”

On August 24th, 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found the proposed Pebble mine would likely cause significant degradation and significant adverse effects to the waters and fisheries of Bristol Bay, and cannot receive a permit under the Clean Water Act as proposed, creating a significant barrier to the project moving forward.

Following the Army Corps’ announcement, Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Senator Sullivan, who like the Governor, both hadn't previously taken a firm position on the mine, came out against a permit for the project. But Governor Dunleavy went a different route.

In an Op-Ed published in The Hill on August 28th, Governor Dunleavy spoke to the Corps’ announcement as misled activism, and gave talking points that support the Pebble Limited Partnership.

This op-ed follows a documented history of the Governor actively supporting the Canadian mining company with a risky and incomplete plan that goes back over a year and a half. Here’s a comprehensive list of the actions that show Governor Dunleavy’s support for the proposed Pebble mine:

March 2019: Governor Dunleavy nominates former Pebble investment company staffer Jason Brune to lead to the Department of Environmental Conservation. Alaskans overwhelmingly oppose his appointment.
April 2019: Governor Dunleavy sends a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers supporting the short public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. CNN later reported that the letter was written nearly verbatim by Pebble staffers.

June 2019: Governor Dunleavy meets President Trump on Air Force I during a stop over and lobbies for “Alaska’s mining interests.” CNN reported that the following day, EPA staff were instructed to prepare for the withdrawal of proposed protections for Bristol Bay.
February 2020: After Bristol Bay business owners, tribal groups and commercial fishermen sue the EPA for their removal of the Proposed Determination for Bristol Bay, the State of Alaska intervenes in the lawsuiton behalf of the EPA and Pebble.
April 2020: Governor Dunleavy appoints Pebble staffer Abe Williams to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
April 2020: The State of Alaska sends a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, encouraging them not stray from the permit review timeline given COVID-19. The letter goes so far as to say that “Pebble is important to Alaskans.”

Alaskans pushed back hard in April with a letter from business owners in Bristol Bay and a video from hunting and fishing guides in the region that called for the Governor to stop his active support for the mine.

The Governor’s latest Op-Ed shows that he has once again failed to complete his duties of listening and responding to his constituents, and his support for the Pebble mine makes it clear to Alaskans where he stands when it comes to protecting 14,000 jobs, a $1.5 billion fishing economy, and one of the most sought after places to hunt and fish on the planet.

Alaskans, we need you to continue to remind the Governor that we are opposed to Pebble. He needs to hear it from everyone, from Barrow to Ketchikan, that Alaskans do not support a foreign mining company with an unproven, ill-planned and disastrous proposal to take our resources. Call his office or send a letter today.