From Stargazer1 on Stockhouse. This is so long I had to break it into 4 parts.
Part 1
Knowledge is Power
To start off, it is instructive to see
what is happening with the
Bristol Bay Native Corporation
The Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) is the only one of the 13 Native Corporations that is against the Pebble mine. The elected leaders of the BBNC are virulent antagonists of the Pebble mine, but it is the Alaskan Natives of the area that are the true people in charge of the corporation, through their privately owned shares of corporation stock.
Last year Pebble Limited Partnership created an {advisory board} and asked people to join it, including Pebble opponents. So that Pebble could interact directly with them, listen to their concerns, and work with them in resolving them.
One of BBNC's board members announced that she was going to talk to the Pebble Partnership. She said that she was not for the Pebble mine at this time, but that it would only be fair to the people in her jurisdiction to find out what Pebble had in mind for the mine, and see if it would actually harm the Bristol Bay area.
BBNC's management were furious. They ostracized her. They got her neighbors to lecture her. They did this non-stop, and she finally resigned.
However, this made other members furious at the BBNC management. Two board members stepped forward and said that they were going to take her place, and talk to the Pebble Partnership, and that nobody was going to intimidate them into resigning.
In addition to that, Abe Williams, a BBNC shareholder, and fourth-generation Bristol Bay fisherman, wrote an {opinions piece:}
"Bristol Bay Native Corp. needs to rethink the region’s needs and its opposition to Pebble."
In it, he said what he found concerning, was "the recent censorship and bullying towards one of its own board members. They took this action not because someone changed their opposition to Pebble, but for accepting a seat on an advisory panel to have the option for meaningful engagement and understanding of the project by those who promote it."
"I have watched our leaders' performance for some time and wanted to raise my concerns in a forum where they could be heard, and I am not alone in expecting more from our leaders."
"We need to include open minded review of the Pebble Partnership's plan for a mine site near Iliamna, the infrastructure to support it, and possible benefits for the area."
"Over the recent years the BBNC leadership has deeply rooted itself into its opposition of the Pebble project, to the point they have taken a negative aim not only at shareholders who support more of an open-minded approach. Bristol Bay Native Corporation needs to rethink the region’s needs and its opposition to Pebble."
"The question I want to pose to our leaders is what do you fear from discussion and conversation? This is how we learn and how we stay informed. To do less than this, in my opinion, is a severe dereliction of stewardship and leadership."
"Perhaps it's time to review our corporation's election processes to ensure equal opportunity is afforded to all possible candidates. I personally think we should have greater regional representation on our board so that more perspectives make their way into the board room when decisions are being made. I also think we should consider the concept of reasonable term limits so that we attract a broader range of people to help our corporation."
Opposition is building within the BBNC to its stand against the Pebble mine
Many Native Alaskans say
YES to PEBBLE
Lisa Reimers, a board member of Iliamna Natives Limited, said that their position on the mine is neutral. Before they decide anything, they want Northern Dynasty to be allowed to go through the permitting process and then present their side of the story.
The Iliamna leaders wanted to talk to the Native Alaska villagers opposed to the project, and have an "open robust debate about what is at stake." But the villagers that were fighting the mine refused to talk to them.
For example, Robin Samuelsen, a chief with the Curyung Tribal Council, a director with the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, and the chairman of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation’s board of directors, said, "Not having seen the plan, I will still oppose the mine."
The Pebble deposit sits within the Lake and Peninsula borough boundaries. Nathan Hill, the manager of the Lake and Peninsula Borough, said, "The position of the Borough is neutral. Because of that, we have been targeted by Pebble mine opponents, notably Alaska's wealthiest resident, Bob Gillam, who has funded several lawsuits against us." "The Borough has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting frivolous lawsuits."
Bob Gillam is a self made billionaire who owns a hunting and fishing lodge in the area. He says that he has dedicated millions to stopping the Pebble project. That Pebble will leave behind a wasteland. His critics point out that he never provides any facts to back up his claims.
Newhalen, which is one of the two closest villages to the mine site, is for the Pebble mine. Margie Olympic, who lives in Newhalen, said "I was raised on a commercial fishing boat in Dillingham. Back in the day, we used to make enough money to support the entire family. Nowadays, fishing can only buy a few groceries or just catch up on bills"
Pebble Limited Partnership plans to build the Pebble mine near the village of Iliamna, which is the other Native Alaskan village that is close to the mine site. The villagers say that they are for the mine being built.
"Our villages are in decline. Commercial fishing has become too expensive."
The Native Alaskan's in charge of the Alaska Native {Nuna Resources} stated:
"Nuna Resources and its native village constituency want the Pebble Limited Partnership, to be given a fair hearing for its claims of environmental and cultural protection on Native traditional lands."
"Nuna's board of directors cannot compete with the large donors financing the campaign to "Stop Pebble Mine" and "Save Bristol Bay." Deep-pocketed individuals and companies like Tiffany Company Foundation."
Tiffany, Zales, and 58 other jewelry retailers have vowed to boycott Pebble gold by signing a "No Pebble Pledge." Anisa Costa, president of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, offers this: "We strongly believe Bristol Bay to be one of the world's most pristine landscapes, home to a wild and productive salmon fishery which supports the ecosystem and the native communities around it. The proposed Pebble Mine would have a devastating long-term impact. . . . We are proud to sign the Bristol Bay Protection Pledge and urge other U.S. jewelers to do so."
"We are facing a dire economic situation. During the salmon fishing season, even in the best years, locals fish only during a three-to-four week season, then go back to villages where there are no jobs. Families are crushed by the cost of living there -- milk costs $9 a gallon and gasoline is $8 a gallon."
"The Pebble mine", Reimers said, "would create a local economy, with year-round work for thousands.
The Alaska Peninsula Corporation, which consolidated five tribes controlling 400,000 acres in the Kuichak watershed, which feeds the Bristol Bay area, have not taken a position for, or against the Pebble Project. In order to do so, they insist that due process be followed. "Only then can we consider its benefits and risks. If due process isn't followed, and the mine is blocked, "the lost opportunity
for jobs could cause irreversible disappearance of our culture."
Pebble opponents seem to be fine with that outcome.
