One of the opening page advertisers is an interest group apparently working to stop the proposed Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. The final decision on the proposed Pebble Mine is years away. In the meantime the State of Alaska has what I believe is the most rigorous and expensive process for mine permitting (and any other sort of public land development) found anywhere in the world. I have no interest in and little knowledge of Alaska mining but in the 35 years I have lived here I have come to understand that with government owning virtually all the land Alaskans are either wards of the government or are government employees, and that is a poor way to live. There are no blocks of private land except that given to Indian tribal corporations (so-called Native corporations) and I have only met one Alaskan who owns more than 10 acres. Hardly any Alaskan owns even 5 acres. So private enterprise as understood in the Lower 48 cannot exist, and as anyone might expect, there is absolutely no manufacturing in Alaska of any kind (as defined by the federal commerce people). There are a few tiny rudimentary sawmills and some very small (compared to what we once had) fish canneries; that's it. For that reason we need every basic industry job we can possibly find. Alaska is huge; the place I live is as remote from Bristol Bay as Tennessee is from Maine. No single mine can threaten hunting in any way whatsoever, and hundreds of biologists monitor game populations every day. Alaska has less than a half-dozen large mines (I think I can list them). Whether the Pebble Mine threatens fish will be a big part of the process now under way. The mine would apparently be within 50 miles (by air - there are no roads) of a private fishing lodge owned by a very successful Alaska investor, and that investor is reported to be the source of virtually all of the opposition to this one mine. Maybe the mine will be decided to be a bad idea (nothing to me one way or another) but the process should run its course and the fact remains that Alaska needs real wage jobs. I will point out that the oil pipeline was supposed to hurt the caribou herd but the herd has increased 5X since the pipeline was built and the pipeline has helped reduced wanton waste of caribou and poaching hear the pipeline. Thank you for your time.
