Alaska Brief Newsletter – February 2016
Dear Supporter:
Our Executive Director, Vicki Clark, is actually on vacation! She’ll be back soon, but in the meantime I’m filling in to send you the latest news from Trustees for Alaska.
A little about me: I’m Brook Brisson and I’ve been working at Trustees for Alaska since 2010. I’m one of our Senior Staff Attorneys. I focus on Arctic and public lands issues and have worked to keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge protected from damaging oil and gas exploration. It’s a pleasure and an honor to be a part of the coalition of dedicated people protecting the Arctic Refuge.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Trustees for Alaska is starting a strategic planning process and we need your help. Getting feedback from supporters and partners is an important part of the process. It helps ensure that we fulfill our mission to protect Alaska while also attending to the internal and external influences affecting our organization. Help us plan our future!
Next month we’ll be conducting surveys to gather your opinions. We’ll have an online survey, but will also contact some of you to gather more detailed feedback. All responses will be completely anonymous, so don’t hold back. Be candid to help our Board of Directors and staff set priorities for our work to protect and sustain Alaska’s natural environment.
Sincerely,
Brook Brisson
Senior Staff Attorney
EPA Cleared of Wrongdoing: Report Dispels Pebble’s Complaints that it was Treated Unfairly
The Office of Inspector General released a report last month on its investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) conduct while preparing the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment. The OIG found “no evidence of bias” nor that EPA “predetermined the assessment outcome.”
Learn more about the report and Pebble Limited Partnership’s continued attacks on EPA.
US Supreme Court Hears National Parks Case
Trustees for Alaska submitted a friend of the court brief in the case on hovercraft use in Alaska’s national parks.
Learn more about this important case.
Wishbone Hill Expired Mining Permit Challenged
Trustees for Alaska gave oral argument late last month in the case challenging Usibili Coal Mine’s expired permit for the proposed Wishbone Hill mine in the Matanuska Valley.
Learn more about Wishbone Hill.
Ambler Road Block
Last month, all four federal agencies tasked with reviewing the 220-mile Road to Ambler project—the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Coast Guard—rejected the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority’s (AIDEA) application as incomplete.
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