Obvious Law

Healthy, wild salmon are the right of every Alaskan. No one should be able to take that right from us. PacRim,  Coal wants to develop a massive coal strip mine on the west side of Cook Inlet. Part of PacRim’s plan is to destroy 11 miles of a Middle Creek, a major tirbutary of the Chuitna.

So visit www.obviouslaw.org and tell Governor Sean Parnell that we should never trade wild, Alaskan Salmon for dirty coal to export to Asia.

A few questions and answers.

Whad’ya mean?
Alaska’s constitution requires the state to manage our fish resources for the benefit of the people, yet there is no clear law preventing mining through a salmon stream.

Whad’ya mean through a stream?
Bank-to-bank removal. Obviously, there oughta be a law against mining through a salmon stream.

Would this affect placer mining?
No. There oughta be a law against mining through a salmon stream, that means bank-to-bank removal—completely removing the streambed—destroying the entire underlying soil and rock beneath.

Really? Wouldn’t the State of Alaska stop it?
Maybe, maybe not. Even though Alaska’s constitution requires the state to have a sustainable fisheries policy and Governor Parnell says he’s “never going to allow a mine that trades the future of one resource for another,” why chance it? Why should we as Alaskans even consider the idea of trading a salmon stream for a mine?

Could it really happen?
YES. PacRim Coal, LLC—a company owned by Dick Bass and William Herbert Hunt, who are not Alaskans—is proposing a coal strip mine in the Chuitna River watershed on the west side of Cook Inlet. Their proposed mine will DESTROY 11 miles of salmon stream. Salmon stream that is home to silver (coho) and king (chinook) and humpback (pink) salmon—not to mention rainbow trout and dolly varden.

So what do we do?
The simplest solution is a law against mining through a salmon stream to protect our right to healthy, wild salmon—salmon for us, salmon for our children and for our children’s children.

Why a law?
To protect our rights and the rights of future Alaskans, we must defend the things we hold most dear. If we allow the destruction of even one salmon stream, it’s gone FOREVER and with it the sustainable jobs and economic security that Alaskans count on.

What can I do?
Visit www.obviouslaw.org and sign the petition. Tell Governor Parnell and those who are supposed to represent us in Juneau that we, as freedom-loving Alaskans, will protect our right to healthy, wild salmon. Protecting salmon streams is the Alaskan thing to do.