In a move that will safeguard the worlds largest intact salmon fishery, the Alaska regional EPA administrator has recommended blocking Pebble Mine from going forward. If approved by the EPA, which is expected to happen sometime in February, the project will be dead, for good. This is a enormous victory for the local tribes, fisherman groups , and environmentalists who opposed the project for the better part of 20 years . Usually after a major project like this fails, the area is given formal federal protection. A good example would be the Yukon Flats, which were the target of a network of dams in the 60s and early 70s. After public opposition killed the project, the Flats were included as one of the 17 monuments Carter designated in 1978, and were redesignated by Congress in ANILCA in 1980.
In all this is good news for the environment and the final veto should be followed by designating Bristol Bay as a monument. Yes it will probably be the largest land monument or park in US history- the current record is the 13.2 million acre Wrangell St Elias National Park- but conserving the worlds largest salmon fishery easily qualifies under both of the Antiquities Acts two criteria .But for now, we can celebrate the assumed end of a project that would have permanently damaged a priceless American treasure.