Johnson Tract Mine is a polymetallic mine located 125 miles southwest of Anchorage, near Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. The mine is seeking easements through Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. In June 2024, AWA and our partners wrote a letter to the Lake Clark Superintendent as a voice for wildlife in this process.
Our organizations are concerned about the significant negative effects that the easements, and the future mining activities that the easements would facilitate, could have on this wild area and its resources. The Johnson Tract Mine project is a complex and far-reaching proposal that is likely to have significant impacts on the special values and resources of the region and the entire Park. The easements and future mining will cause a large, undeveloped area to become industrialized.
We wrote to the Park Service vocalizing our concerns that future development may disturb wildlife, destroy wetlands, impact a thriving recreation-based economy, and permanently alter rural lifestyles dependent on traditional food resources. Consistent with its authority and discretion under the 1976 Cook Inlet Land Exchange, NPS must carefully consider how it can address the potentially serious impacts of these easements as part of this process and its upcoming resource analysis.
“Lake Clark National Park is one of the wildest national park landscapes in the world. Lake Clark protects the headwaters of the Kvichak and Nushagak rivers that flow into Bristol
Bay, home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon run. Wild salmon sustain the traditional lifeways of local people, play an essential role in the ecosystem and support the $2 billion fishing industry that anchors the local economy. Additionally, the world-famous brown bears of the region allow for the most incredible bear-watching opportunities anywhere on the planet, which supports a thriving bear-viewing economy for the region. The Park is also home to many other wildlife, including caribou, moose, a variety of birds, and the endangered beluga whales that inhabit its nearshore waters.”
Click here to read the full letter and learn more.
