Trout Unlimited To Hold News Conference Wednesday Calling for Permanent Protection of Federal Lands Near Bristol Bay

Hundreds of Hunters and Anglers Ask Interior Department to Reopen Bristol Bay Regional Management Plan and Keep Mining Prohibitions in Place

A broad coalition of hunters, anglers, guides and outfitters, representing millions of Americans and many of them members of Trout Unlimited, want Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to protect some 1.1 million acres of federal land in the Bristol Bay watershed by reversing a Bush Administration plan that recommended opening the area to mineral development. Nearly 300 signatories to a letter addressed to Salazar ask the secretary to direct his new Bureau of Land Management chief, Bob Abbey, to protect Bristol Bay’s rich fisheries and wildlife habitat by redoing the 2008 regional management plan for federal lands in the watershed and closing the area to mining. The BLM lands covered by the plan lie adjacent to state land where developers hope to build one of the world’s largest open-pit gold and copper mines, a project known as Pebble.

WHAT: A news conference to discuss what’s at stake with the BLM lands and what groups want Salazar to do.

WHEN: 9 a.m. Alaska /1 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Call 800-944-8766 to join the teleconference.

WHO: The speakers will be Chris Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Trout Unlimited; Gary Berlin, President, American Fly Fishing Trade Association; and Brian Kraft, Owner, Alaska Sportsman’s Lodge.

For more information, contact Paula Dobbyn, Trout Unlimited, Director of Communications, Alaska Program, at pdobbyn@tu.org or 907-230-1513.