Submitted by nelli_williams on Sun, 2015-02-01 11:39 Vote Up Down +1 + Taku20120815.jpg King on the Taku River, Southeast Alaska. Photo by Chris Miller By: Paula Dobbyn It’s been a busy and productive last few months for TU-AK’s transboundary campaign. As you may have read in our last newsletter, the Salmon Beyond Borders campaign is an effort to protect Southeast Alaska’s rich fisheries, tourism industry, Native cultures, and overall high-quality lifestyles from the harm large-scale mining in neighboring British Columbia could cause. The Canadian province is rapidly advancing numerous mining projects, several of which lie in the headwaters of sensitive salmon rivers that flow from B.C. to tidewater in Alaska’s famed Inside Passage. One of the mines, Red Chris, opened on Feb. 3, to the dismay of Alaskans. It’s located in the headwaters of the Stikine River, one of Alaska’s most renowned salmon producers Red Chris’ owner, Imperial Metals, is the same company responsible for the Mount Polley mine disaster last August. Another largest project, the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell or KSM mine, sits near the king salmon-rich Unuk River which drains into Alaska’s Misty Fjords National Monument, a national treasure. To raise awareness about the threats Southeast Alaska is facing from these acid-generating mines, TU is partnering with commercial and sport fishing groups, tribal leaders, municipal officials, and tourism operators . We’re raising the alarm about transboundary mining and to request action by the U.S. State Department. During the fall, TU and its partners visited several Southeast Alaska communities and held public presentations. In January, the presentations continued in other remote towns. The work has resulted in strong media coverage (including in Salon.com, Living on Earth and TROUT) and a mountain of resolutions and letters requesting urgent action by Secretary of State John Kerry. So far, while the State Department’s response has been muted, the Alaska congressional delegation has spoken out on the matter and has joined a growing coalition of stakeholders who say strong safeguards need to be put in place to protect Alaska’s interests. The goal is to have the International Joint Commission (IJC) review the situation. The IJC is a bilateral body set up to settle transboundary water disputes. Visit www.salmonbeyondborders.org to learn more. Click here to write to Sec. Kerry on the matter. Paula Dobbyn is the Communications Director for Trout Unlimited's Alaska program in Anchorage.