Alaskan Native Rebuts Alaskan Visitor Over Bristol Bay Mine

Ozark Guru:  Ken Morrish is co-owner of Fly Water Travel in Ashland. He worked his first season in Alaska's Bristol Bay in 1984. Now after 27 years based on that experience, Morrish wrote a letter to the editor, published in The Oregonian, opposing the Bristol Bay mine project in Alaska. He is not concerned about Native Alaskan jobs but as an environmentalist. However, he revealed his bias claiming the Bristol Bay mine could harm Oregonians' jobs. This claim pales in importance to the number of jobs lost to native Alaskans.

Beth Shaw of "Resourceful Earth" writes, "Environmental groups have been arguing for months that Alaska Natives don’t want the new Pebble Mine. They have also latched onto fishery groups with a bogus argument about crippling the salmon runs in the Bristol Bay area. The truth is, there are no facts to the environmentalists’ claims. Finally, we have heard from an Alaska Native who wants the public to know that we do not have to choose one or the other."

She draws attention to a follow-up letter to the editor by Greg Anelon, an Alaskan native. Anelon writes,

My people have lived in this region of Alaska for generations. If anyone knows the value of the salmon in Bristol Bay, it's us. Neither the native peoples of Bristol Bay nor the citizens of Alaska would ever accept a project that interferes with the salmon fishery. Maintaining the watershed is essential and Pebble will only be built if it can be done safely. Morrish and others phrase opposition to Pebble as if we must make a choice between mining and fishing, but we do not have to choose. We can have both, and Alaska's mining history shows that. . . .

You hear the word "mine" and immediately say, "Not in my backyard." But here's the thing: Bristol Bay isn't your backyard. It's ours. You have a job. Most of my people do not.

Too many Alaska natives are unemployed. Too many Alaska natives live without a year-round economy. Too many Alaska natives face significant social challenges. Visit us in the middle of winter and see for yourself. The Pebble project represents too many benefits for the people of Southwest Alaska to simply say “no” before having all the information.

Quoting Shaw again, "Anelon takes a common-sense approach to the issues raised by the environmental activists who would prevent the mine and jobs attached to it before it even grows legs. His perspective needs to be heard."

The same could be said for other parts of the United States. Far too often those working in academic Ivy Towers or living in over-developed municipal areas make false judgments and attempt to limit the use of resources and property rights of other Americans. They watch "Animal Kingdom" or some other TV show and fall in love with some fuzzy animal or interesting fish and then allow their mental facilities to be co-opted by some kool-aid selling environmentalist.

There is a place for the environmentalists, but, it is not in everyone elses' backyards stopping progress and critically needed jobs. It is not in Bristol Bay. It is not in rural America stealing the property rights of other citizens via laws and regulations.

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