August 03, 2011
By Jeff Simpson
Leading retailers Patagonia and ExOfficio ask other recreation companies to join the Save Bristol Bay campaign at the Outdoor Retailer show
Salt Lake City - Two leaders in the outdoor recreation industry are urging their counterparts to join them in signing on to a letter urging the White House to protect the recreational treasure that is Bristol Bay, Alaska.
Performance clothing manufacturers ExOfficio and Patagonia are leading an effort at the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, Aug. 4 — 7, to activate others in the industry to join a diverse, bipartisan coalition that is working to protect Bristol Bay from the threat of the proposed Pebble Mine. Each will host a happy hour with Trout Unlimited to raise awareness of this national issue, and ask people and outdoor retailers to join them in taking action:
Thursday, Aug. 4, 4 to 6 p.m.
ExOfficio Happy Hour featuring wild salmon, beer and conservation leadership
Booth # 12027
Friday, Aug. 5, 4 to 5 p.m.
Stop Pebble Mine! Patagonia Happy Hour with gear raffle, environmental action
Booth # 13027
Thirty-nine CEOs of outdoor retail firms across the country have already signed a letter to the White House, asking the Administration to use a power under the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay from the adverse impacts of large-scale mining. According to a recent study by the Outdoor Industry Association, active outdoor recreation contributes $730 billion to the U.S. economy each year.
With up to 60 million wild salmon returning each summer, Bristol Bay, Alaska, is our nation's largest and most valuable wild salmon fishery, making it a critical food, recreation and revenue source for thousands of Americans. The Bristol Bay fisheries are the economic lifeblood of the region, generating more than $450 million in revenue annually and supporting more than 12,000 jobs.
The proposed Pebble Mine — a partnership between two foreign corporations — would dig a massive open-pit mine, 1700 feet deep and several miles wide, plus an underground mine of similar dimensions. It would also store up to 10 billion tons of acid-laced toxic mine waste in perpetuity in the heart of an earthquake-prone region near a fault line.
ExOfficio and Patagonia are part of a diverse, bipartisan coalition working together to protect Bristol Bay from the risks of the Pebble Mine. The broad, national effort brings together unlikely allies, including commercial fishermen, sport fishermen, Alaska Natives, jewelers, hunters, church leaders and conservationists. For more information, please visit www.savebristolbay.org
