State certifies new Bristol Bay initiative

Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell has certified the “Bristol Bay Forever” citizens initiative that would require legislative approval for large-scale mines in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve.

Petition sponsors will need to gather at least 30,169 signatures from Alaskan voters. Sponsors will have one year from the time of delivery of petition booklets to gather signatures. The measure could appear on the August or November 2014 statewide ballots.

The proposed Pebble project in Southwest Alaska is the target of the initiative.

“We regret that what we believe is an unconstitutional and ill-conceived proposal is moving forward,” said Mike Heatwole of the Pebble Partnership. “Pebble is committed to complying with all applicable laws and believes that the proposal will introduce new, clearly unconstitutional measures. We are hopeful that Alaskans will reject this attempt to inappropriately politicize the already rigorous permitting process. Such politicization would have far reaching implications for other development projects across the state, undermining the authority of the established regulatory process.”

Heatwole said Pebble supports the role the legislative process already plays in public policy decisions by establishing laws and the framework that govern responsible resource development in Alaska for the state agencies to administer. “We oppose introducing an additional layer of bureaucracy that adds cost, uncertainty and risk that will deter potential investors in Alaska who depend on a stable, predictable process when investing hundreds of millions of dollars in our state.”

Return to newsletter headlines