Last month, a piece of the puzzle for permanent safeguards for Bristol Bay was completed.

In December, 2022, the Pedro Bay Corporation, The Conservation Fund and the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust reached an agreement to protect 44,000 acres of pristine wild salmon habitat along Lake Iliamna's eastern shore through conservation easements. The land is now set aside to safeguard the Pile River, Iliamna River, and Knutson Creek watersheds, all tributaries of the Kvichak river system, which generate 4.3 million sockeye salmon each year. The easements will also protect valuable habitat for other species like trout, moose, seal, brown bear, wolves, and migratory birds. Additionally, this easement makes it much more difficult for future Pebble Mine developers to secure land access needed for transportation and pipeline infrastructure.

Located in the heart of Bristol Bay in the northeastern end of Iliamna Lake, the 44,000-acre conservation easements protect critical habitat for millions of wild salmon and maintain subsistence and recreational uses, traditional activities and cultural resources important to the Pedro Bay Corporation and its Alaska Native shareholders.

“We are honored to work with the people of Pedro Bay to help them realize their vision of sustainable guardianship, economic stability and subsistence use,” said President and CEO of The Conservation Fund Larry Selzer. “These locally-driven conservation easements build upon more than 300,000 acres of critical salmon and wildlife habitat in Alaska that The Conservation Fund has protected with Alaska Native village corporations and are a powerful and durable step toward advancing a broader strategy to establish equitable and lasting protections for the Bristol Bay region.”

These new land and water protections also cover a portion of the designated northern transportation route vital for access to the formerly proposed Pebble mine. The conservation easements now prohibit development and execution of any right-of-way agreements needed to develop an industrial road across Pedro Bay Corporation lands. The Pedro Bay Rivers Project literally serves the Pebble Limited Partnership a roadblock in any future attempts to develop essential elements of the mine plan.

Pebble Limited Partnership’s formerly proposed road would not be able to access needed acres that are now off limits to industrial development. *Source: Pedro Bay Rivers Project*

We applaud and congratulate Pedro Bay Corporation, The Conservation Fund and the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust for their hard work to safeguard clean water, fish habitat, and culture that has existed for millenia in Bristol Bay.

The Pedro Bay Rivers Project represents exactly what we want for Bristol Bay: local people and organizations leading the effort to ensure that fish, fish-based traditions, and one-of-a-kind recreational opportunities can continue for generations to come.

This project is a piece of the overall puzzle to permanently protect Bristol Bay. Pebble’s permit has been denied. Clean Water Act protections are rolling in the right direction. Together with fish-focused projects like the Pedro Bay Rivers project and other initiatives, we can help ensure fish and fish habitat in the Bristol Bay region continues to thrive without threat of Pebble in the future. Our work in this place isn’t done, and we will continue to work alongside local partners in 2023 to ensure that the most prolific sockeye salmon fishery on the planet is protected for future generations.