59 ̊53'50"N, 155 ̊17'43"W: Origin of a Sociological and Ecological Alliance

Vital Stats

Fiona C

Dillingham, AK

  • people helped20000
  • People Doing It 2

The Problem

Project Description: A working ecosystem is richer than any one element of it. Bristol Bay, Alaska and the pristine, freeflowing rivers that drain into it are at risk by the proposed Pebble Mine of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. The location of the mine, at the headwaters of Bristol Bay’s most productive rivers, illustrious for its salmon migrations, risk ecological damage and a social identity loss. Specifically, the hydrology of the watershed where Pebble Mine is proposed could suffer irreversible damage. Widespread changes in water regime have historically severely affected sensitive ecosystems. Mining processes to extract gold, copper and molybdenum require a great deal of water from nearby streams. The use of cyanide and other equally toxic chemical agents for easier metal and ore separation could additionally change the water quality and its habitat. Toxins of this type in even minute quantities are lethal to juvenile salmon. The predicted water regime change is but one of the physical changes that could occur. The amount of forested land cleared, the need for one of the world’s largest dams and the infrastructure required to transport metals and ore are significant disruptions to the current state of the landscape. Furthermore, corporations within the mining industry often create a façade of environmental stewardship through their impact statement, yet the majority fall short of their original vow. The hard rock mining industry is currently the leading toxic polluter in the nation and has left a few hundred thousand un-reclaimed mines and their adjoined environmental disrepair across the country. Looking at rivers home to the largest sockeye salmon spawning events in the world, fish species are a central component to ecosystem stability at this location. An altered physical environment could have intangible social repercussions. While mining threatens the environmental components of the water and land, it upsets the social and cultural identity of surrounding communities. Subsistence fishing is the core of Alaskan identity and has supplied natives with a reliable diet for hundreds of years. This sustainable diet is of caribou, wild seasonal berries and fish is dependent upon a thriving ecosystem to provide these components. A withdrawal or decline of one species among an ecosystems food chain has a direct affect on other species. Bears, eagles, caddisflies, and humans are just a few of the visibly dependent organisms on an annual spawning event in Bristol Bays Rivers. This project frames the question of whether this landscape has enough resilience to recover from a mining event of this size. Ecological and sociological resilience is dependent upon a balance within the relationship of organisms and their environment. Resilience is lost through the decisions and policies we make concerning the state of our environment. The Resilience Alliance, an organization researching the dynamics of social-ecological systems, uses the measurement of resilience to predict viability. Studies on ecosystem resilience provide insight into how adaptive a system is, and whether an introduced human system could sustainably be put in place.

Plan of Action

A colleague of mine from Cornell, David Krause will be joining me on this project. David spent the 2008 Field Season working for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a Biological Science Technician. Qualifications include work within the Subsistence Branch and the Fisheries and Habitat Restoration Branch at three separate project locations. Responsibilities included conducting comprehensive habitat and water quality assessments, the use of DIDSON Sonar technology as well as data collection and assessment for management purposes of chum, Chinook, and sockeye salmon migrations. Our project plan is for a 250 mile float trip. Starting at the proposed Pebble Mine site, the route would continue down the Koktuli River meeting with the Mulchatna River and eventually the Nushagak River, ending in Ekuk, AK. During the five-six week trip, an average of 10 miles would be covered per day with ecosystem and community inventories at designated stops. After departure at Nondalton, destinations include New Stuyahok, Ekwok , Dillingham, Clarks Point and Ekuk. At each community, an ecological and sociological inventory would be taken of the landscape. Ecological assessment would include an inventory of the ecosystems interconnected with its food chain components (fish, birds, mammals) and water flow regime observations. Sociological research would look at how Alaskans are a considerable part of this food system. Data collected would comprise of oral history, traditions, and responsibilities in relation to the current state of the landscape, and how their lifestyle pertains to it via photography and digital voice recordings. At the completion of this project, observations, experiences and experiments would be gathered as an informational datum documenting pre-mining ecologies and societies. The intent of this project is to develop profiles and spread awareness about the threats of Pebble Mine. Gathered information could give explanation for whether the two processes, large scale mineral resource exploitation and ecosystem stability, can realistically coexist. Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems), data input can be applied to Google Earth. Available and accessible technologies aid in linking locations with people, stories and their habitat. Moreover, Bristol Bays Rivers and all that depend on them exist as a case study for future generations who will face the ever increasing pressure of industry trying to amend the few healthy ecosystems left on Earth.
Go
Environment

Related Stuff