Sportsmen Speak Up for Bristol Bay - courtesy EPA
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s new general manager Ben Bulis was part of a contingent of sportsmen and conservation organizations that recently visited Washington, D.C., to lobby on the Hill on behalf of Bristol Bay, Alaska, in opposition to the proposed Pebble Mine.
Most of you in the fly fishing industry are acutely aware why Pebble is an major concern for anglers, but in a nutshell, the mining interests plan on containing up to 10 billion tons of toxic waste behind earthen barriers, in the most seismically-active region in the world… which also happens to include the headwaters for the world’s largest wild salmon fishery.
The Environmental Protection Agency will be releasing a draft watershed assessment for public review and comment in the near future. At that time, we encourage all stakeholders in the fly fishing industry to make their voices heard.
For now, Angling Trade hopes you’ll join us in congratulating and thanking Ben for “hitting the ground running,” letting his voice be heard, and representing the industry well.
2 Comments
It was great to have Ben (and Tom Sadler) representing AFFTA as part of our Bristol Bay Sportsmen’s Summit last week. We had a very productive and busy few days in DC – thanks to all in the industry for being a part of this campaign for several years already. We’ve made a lot of progress and decision-makers are taking notice. However, there is still much work to be done and we’ll need to press extremely hard to get over the goal line. When the EPA releases its draft watershed assessment in a few weeks, I would implore all members of the industry to work with the Bristol Bay campaign to spread the word through e-newsletters, web buttons, blogs, etc. We’ll have a link available to solicit public comments and we need to produce a landslide of comments in support of Bristol Bay. Thanks in advance for your ongoing support!
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