Alaska's Pebble Mine is a world-class deposit of copper and gold, and its enormous wealth would justify a billion dollars' worth of environmental protections.  Such precautions might allow responsible development of these ores, but in the case of Pebble, other considerations come into play. Pebble happens to have the misfortune of being smack-dab in the middle of the headwaters of Bristol Bay, the world's premiere salmon fishery.  The road necessary for development would run along the pristine northern shore of Lake Iliamna, the largest lake in Alaska and the third largest entirely in the United States.  Iliamna is home to not only bountiful stocks of salmon and grayling, but big rainbow trout, reaching 28" in size.  It is a sportsman's paradise and was home to Alaska's fourth governor, Jay Hammond, and his wife Bella. There's plenty of gold and copper elsewhere in North America.  Pebble does...(Read Full Post)