For 35 years, one gold-and-copper deposit has threatened the last great sockeye salmon run left on Earth. The mine is still not dead. Neither is the fight to stop it — permanently.
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Every summer, wild sockeye salmon pour into the headwaters of the Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers by the tens of millions — the largest run of their kind anywhere on the planet. It feeds bears, eagles, and entire villages. It anchors a commercial and sport fishery that has run, uninterrupted, for generations.
The Pebble deposit sits directly above those headwaters. Proposed as one of the largest open-pit copper and gold mines in North America, it would require permanently containing an enormous volume of toxic mine waste, immediately upstream of the spawning grounds — forever, not just for the life of the mine.
Pebble Mine has been proposed, studied, denied, revived, and denied again. Here’s the short version of a very long fight — pulled from the timeline in Holding the Line.
Northern Dynasty Minerals stakes claims on the Pebble deposit, dead center in Bristol Bay’s salmon nursery. Mining giant Anglo American later buys in, funding one of the largest mineral exploration programs in Alaska’s history.
At tribes’ request, EPA studies what the mine would do to the watershed — then proposes restricting mine-waste disposal under the Clean Water Act. Anglo American walks away, writing off nearly $600 million.
A new administration withdraws the proposed protections and reopens permitting — but after a fast-tracked review, the Army Corps denies Pebble’s permit outright, calling it contrary to the public interest.
EPA issues its final determination, prohibiting mine-waste disposal across roughly 309 square miles of the watershed — the strongest protection Bristol Bay has ever had.
Northern Dynasty, the State of Alaska, and two Alaska Native corporations sue to overturn the veto. A federal judge in Anchorage hears oral arguments in June 2026. A ruling is pending.
Whatever the ruling says, this fight doesn’t end on its own. It hasn’t for 35 years — and it won’t without people showing up for it.
Fund the fight directly. Every legal brief, staff scientist, and trip to Washington is paid for by people who’ve never even seen Bristol Bay — and it’s about to get expensive again.
Donate to Trout Unlimited →Become a Trout Unlimited member. Membership dues fund Alaska’s chapters and TU’s on-the-ground conservation work year-round — court case or not.
Join Trout Unlimited →Grab a “No Pebble Mine” sticker. Put it somewhere only you would think to put it — then take a photo and show the world where you stand.
Get Your Sticker →
Stick it on a cooler in Montana, a truck bumper in Tokyo, a kayak in the Alps — wherever you happen to be standing when you say no to this mine. Post the photo, tag it, and help us prove this fight has no borders.
The documentary follows the guides, lodge owners, and families — Nanci Morris Lyon, Kvichak Aspelund, the Booth family, and others — who’ve spent decades fighting to keep Pebble Mine out of Bristol Bay. It’s screening now as part of the International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4) tour.
The film matters. Stopping the mine matters more. Watch it, then come back up to the top of this page.
Find an IF4 Screening →
Full interviews from the film are posting to Trout Unlimited’s YouTube channel — check back soon.
