Thank you, Senator Lisa Murkowski, for defending Alaska’s transboundary rivers, jobs, and way of life.

June 25, 2018
 
PRESS STATEMENT

Thank you, Senator Lisa Murkowski, for defending Alaska’s transboundary rivers, jobs, and way of life.

JUNEAU— Salmon Beyond Borders thanks Senator Lisa Murkowski for her efforts to ensure Southeast Alaska’s transboundary rivers remain productive for salmon and Alaskans.

Following the 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill, Congress, with Senator Murkowski’s leadership, directed the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to work with local tribes and agencies “to develop a water quality strategy for transboundary rivers impacted by mining activities” in the Alaska/British Columbia transboundary region.

In a recent Interior-Environment committee bill, $1.5 million was appropriated to fund stream gauges that measure transboundary river water quality in U.S. states bordering British Columbia. That includes a gauge along the Unuk River near Ketchikan, a river to which Seabridge Gold’s massive proposed Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) project poses threats.

“This is a vote to support clean air, water, our lands, and our people,” Murkowski, chairwoman of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee, told E&E News.

“Eighty percent of Southeast Alaska king salmon come from the transboundary Taku, Stikine, and Unuk rivers, yet B.C. is pushing 'go' on more than a dozen mines in these watersheds. It’s imperative we have good, reliable science documenting the quality of these rivers so that we can hold the Canadian government accountable for downstream impacts to U.S. resources,” said Salmon Beyond Borders Director Jill Weitz. “Senator Murkowski’s leadership is huge for this important work, and we look forward to the USGS collaborating with tribes and state agencies that are already on the ground.”

The bill has passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee and now moves on to the next step in the process.

Senator Murkowski's press statement can be found here.
 
Contact:
Jill Weitz
Campaign Director
Salmon Beyond Borders
1 (907) 957-9504
jill@salmonstate.org ​