The proposed Johnson Tract Mine is presented as an economic opportunity for Alaska, but the company’s 2025 SEC Initial Assessment makes one thing clear: this is a short-term gold project that rewards outside investors, while providing limited returns for Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) and posing real environmental risks for the region. A recent...
CIRI shareholders deserve a voice in decisions that could shape their land for generations. The proposed Johnson Tract Gold Mine poses irreversible harm to the abundant, diverse, and intact ecosystem of the Johnson River Valley and Tuxedni Bay - a stunning wildlife corridor nestled next to Mount Iliamna on the west side of Cook Inlet | Tikahtnu....
The Pebble Partnership won’t receive a handout from the Trump administration - a welcome divergence from the blind fast tracking of any and all extraction projects. Last month, the Department of Justice issued a briefing affirming their defense to the EPA’s 2023 Clean Water Act veto for the massive open-pit copper mine proposed in the Bristol Bay...
During the early battle of the No Pebble Mine campaign, Earthworks, a national organization working to protect communities from the impacts of extractive economies on health, air, water, and land, made defending Bristol Bay a cornerstone of their No Dirty Gold Campaign. Drawing attention from both the public and the jewelry industry, Earthworks...
Introducing the proposed Johnson Tract Gold Mine to the public commonly elicits the same question: how can there be a mine in a National Park? Explaining that the local Native corporation has an inholding of approximately 20,000 acres within the park and is pursuing the mine often creates feelings of conflict. But it cannot be understated —...
For 30 years, Cook Inletkeeper has been steadfast in standing against corporate greed and the extraction of our lands and waters at the cost of clean water, healthy habitat and sustainable economies. It is an arduous, cyclical, and uphill battle that will continue as long as capitalism reigns and the State of Alaska is willing to give away public...
The votes are in, it’s a draw! Last week, Homer Drawdown gathered to hear the solution pitches and cast votes to decide where the local climate solution community will direct their energy next. Both solutions were popular, and when the time came to decide, the votes came in as an exact tie. Since both solutions fell under the umbrella of...
Recently, we learned that despite serious environmental and community concerns, the proposed Donlin Gold Project was added to the FAST-41 permitting program, marking it as a federal priority. Donlin Gold would be the largest pure gold mine in the world, located on a tributary ~140 miles upriver from the mouth of the Kuskokwim. This colossal...
Federal regulators at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are moving to finalize Cook Inlet oil and gas Lease Sale 258 without public hearings or opportunities for comment on a more thorough environmental review ordered by a federal court. A federal judge ruled in 2024 that BOEM’s initial review of Lease Sale 258 violated the National...
Alaska houses more than half the wetlands in the United States. This makes it especially vulnerable to the impacts of the 2023 case Sackett vs. EPA. The case changed which wetlands fall under federal jurisdiction and trigger Clean Water Act protection. Only wetlands with surface water, and that touches a “relatively permanent” water body, are...
