Report Finds Lake Clark National Park in Pristine Condition, Resources Threatened by Mining

An assessment released today by the nation's leading voice for
the national parks, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation
Association (NPCA), finds that Lake Clark National Park & Preserve's
ecosystem is in excellent condition, receiving one of the highest
scores among parks assessed throughout the nation, largely because of
the park's remoteness, lack of major road systems, and distance from
sources of pollution.

Yet NPCA cautions that a future mining district being explored
across 1,000 square miles adjacent to Lake Clark National Park &
Preserve is the single greatest threat to the integrity of the park's
resources, including the region's abundant fish and wildlife and the
rural lifestyles enjoyed by local subsistence users and community based
commercial fishermen. Future mining prospects are anchored by an
exceptionally large deposit of copper and gold, called the Pebble Mine.
Staked just 14 miles from the park's southwestern boundary, the mine is
predicted to be a catalyst for industrialization in the headwaters of
Bristol Bay, a move which could seriously degrade air and downstream
water quality, fragment salmon and wildlife habitat, and diminish the
backcountry wilderness experience that is central to the area's tourism
and sporting industries.

"Alaska is often considered our last chance to do things 'the right
way'," says Melissa Blair, the National Parks Conservation
Association's Alaska Field Representative. "In the case of Bristol Bay,
doing things 'the right way' means embracing clean waters, wild salmon,
and traditional lifestyles - the exact values that led to the
designation of Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks in the region's
headwaters. The track record of industrial mining has not been kind to
rivers or wild salmon, and the fact that the Pebble mining district is
being planned so close to our phenomenal national parks is very
concerning."

The National Parks Conservation Association's report finds that Lake
Clark's programs aimed at preserving and celebrating the park's many
cultures is one of the very best in the nation, receiving the highest
score (84 out of 100) of any of the more than 60 parks NPCA has
assessed to date. This high score is a testament to Lake Clark's
management and the relationships it has developed with local
communities.

Lake Clark is renowned for its wilderness character as memorialized
in the journals and documentary film of Dick Proenneke, Alone in the
Wilderness. Proenneke's hand-built cabin is now maintained as a living
museum, a highlight of the park for many visitors, and an example of
the Park Service's commitment to telling the park's human story. High
marks are given to the park's strong history and cultural ethnography
programs and, in particular, its excellent relationship with the
region's indigenous peoples established over the past three decades.

According to the NPCA's Center for State of the Parks report, Lake
Clark's natural features such as wildlife, air, and water quality
ranked "excellent", scoring an overall 91 out of 100. Exceptional among
other biological reserves worldwide, Lake Clark has been inhabited by
people for thousands of years and continues to support modern local
communities, yet its ecosystems are nearly pristine. The report cites
the park's ability to integrate people into protecting the ecosystem as
a key factor in the health of the park. For instance, the park has
captured the traditional knowledge of neighboring Dena'ina Athabascan
communities about fisheries, wildlife, landscapes, and other ecological
changes they've observed. This data, such as key spawning locations and
changes over time, water quality, and the decline of fish in certain
areas, informs park mangers and scientists that are interested in
helping to protect park resources in light of mining threats.

The park is a freshwater spawning destination for a
genetically-unique portion of Bristol Bay's wild salmon run, the
largest remaining intact wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world; a
significant factor in the creation of Lake Clark National Park. If
built, the Pebble Mine could pollute waters that salmon must attempt to
migrate in order to reach spawning grounds in the freshwaters of the
park.

Further, a mining district next to the national park may diminish
visitors' perceptions of the park as a wilderness experience and could
weaken the region's strong tourist draw, negatively affecting the
viability of local tourism and sport fishing economies.

"There aren't any examples around the world where a large open-pit
mine and a vibrant tourism industry coexist," says Dan Oberlatz, a
longtime Lake Clark backcountry tour operator. "It's never been done."

NPCA's report warns that a 2008 Bureau of Land Management decision
to open nearly one million acres of federal lands in the Bristol Bay
watershed to new mining operations could amplify the region's
modern-day gold rush. These federal public lands, which are adjacent to
both Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks, have been closed to mining
for the past 38 years and protect key wildlife habitat and watersheds.

The National Parks Conservation Association launched the landmark
Center for State of the Parks program in 2000 to assess the health of
national parks across the country.

To download the full report, please click here.

For hi-res images, click here.

For additional information, click here.