Salmon Beyond Borders responds to first meeting for AK-BC Statement of Cooperation

December 20, 2016 

Contact: Heather Hardcastle, Salmon Beyond Borders, (907) 209-8486

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Salmon Beyond Borders responds to first meeting for AK-BC Statement of Cooperation 


JUNEAU - In response to a press release today from the Walker administration regarding implementation of the Alaska-British Columbia (BC) Statement of Cooperation on Protection of Transboundary Waters, Heather Hardcastle, Campaign Director of Salmon Beyond Borders, made the following statement:
 
“Alaskans want enforceable protections and financial guarantees for transboundary rivers that are threatened by large-scale mining projects upstream in BC. This was made loud and clear by hundreds of Alaskans at the House Fisheries Committee Transboundary Hearing in October. These protections cannot be established through the Alaska-BC non-binding Statement of Cooperation. It is good to hear that Alaska and BC officials met for the first time to implement the Statement of Cooperation, but we encourage the State to join with the Alaska congressional delegation, Alaska legislators, and thousands of Alaskans to go beyond the Statement of Cooperation, and make the explicit ask of the U.S. government to secure a binding and enforceable international agreement with Canada. Additionally, we are eager to learn how the State of Alaska will respond to the BC government’s recent findings that water samples taken from the Tulsequah Chief mine in the Taku watershed are ‘acutely toxic,’ as this was not mentioned in the State’s press release today, and BC Minister Bill Bennett promised more than a year ago to clean up this pollution.”###

SALMON BEYOND BORDERS is a campaign driven by sport and commercial fishermen, community leaders, tourism and recreation business owners and concerned citizens, in collaboration with Tribes and First Nations, united across the Alaska/British Columbia border to defend and sustain our transboundary rivers, jobs and way of life. Find us online at www.salmonbeyondborders.org or on Facebook.