Quote:
Originally Posted by CYDdharta
I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it causing problems, but I would imagine there would also be an influx of people to man the mines, and the population growth alone might cause some of the problems that concern you. I wouldn’t think they would all be willing to live off the land as you have, which would mean more grocery stores and restaurants, hunting land being developed for housing, etc. Those who are pushing the plan may be thinking the increase in the local population and economy may offset the projected environmental impact.
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Well growth isnt really my concern. We are talking less than 8k people in an area of 51,000 square miles or roughly the size of Lousiana. Yes 8thousand is not a typo. There are only 8 thousand residents here.
We are in the upswing of a serious downturn in our salmon fishery. It began 10 years ago, and farmed salmon among other market conditions caused it.
Again though, it is on the upswing. My real conern is that the local population wont be the actual beneficiaries of the mine's exsistance. There isnt the work force here to support the mine. Many of them would live in urban areas and be flown out to work. This happens on the north slope where the oil is produced. People live in Anchorage or elsewhere and work 2 weeks on with one week off. While a few would get faily lucrative jobs, most will be left with having thier rivers damaged.
The mine is known as Pebble mine. Feel free to research it. There is plenty of info on the net about it. My ultimate concern is that the locals will get few of the jobs, and all of the pollution. One needs to only look at other rivers to know that large scale industrialization and salmon simply dont mix. The Columbia, Fraser, Snake, and Salmon rivers have all proved that.
In terms of added hunting and fishing pressure by locals, that would be inconsequential. There is literally plenty of fish to go around to anyone who wants it. I have a family of three. We catch 200 salmon, a single moose, a caribou, and 75 birds and we are set for the year. While there is plenty of work that goes into those efforts. But if another 250-500 people were to move into the region, the effect would be minimal. Again, imagine spreading 8,000 people in Lousiana and letting them try to live off the land. They could probably do it. Even 10k could without a terribly tough time. Salmon is our life blood. I had salmon for dinner tonight. Will probably have it again tomorrow. And a good chance for the next day. I cant imagine what I would do without being able to harvest those salmon. The cost of living here is quite high. Buying all of your meat from the grocery store is completely cost prohibitive. To give you a snapshot, hamburger is $4 a pound. Boneless skinless chicken breast is $9 a pound. Milk runs for 8.50$ a gallon. Gas is running at $4.96 a gallon. Pork chops run at $7 a pound. For me, bacon is a real treat at $5 for a package.