In Washington in Washington, strangely, the people who talk the most about the environment are almost invariably the people who know the least about the environment who go outside the least who care least about nature and are most likely to deny its imperatives, but nature is vital, its the source of so much human happiness Heres, something if you care about nature. You should know about to Bristol Bay Alaska, one of the wonders of the world more salmon spawn there than any place on the planet. Now a canadian company is trying to build an open pit mine there and EPA Review found that mine would be devastating for the ecosystem for nature. There would be some mining jobs, but fewer than you think, and they would be automated and time limited the mind if built is expected to create jobs for only about twenty years, whereas the damage could last forever. At this point, the White House has delayed approval for building this mine. Should the White House cancel it entirely?

Brian Kraft knows a lot about this area and a lot about nature hes, the owner of the Alaska Sportsmens Lodge. We are happy to have him on tonight, thanks so much for coming on. Thanks for having me on tell us about this part of the world where you live and work. Why is it important? A remote part of Alaska, its home to salmon runs that are measured by the millions. There are no roads, no real infrastructure, its in a pristine completely intact. Nature functioning as it has for millennia, its a perfectly functioning ecosystem with healthy fisheries. You run a business, presumably are not against business. You are in a rural area where there arent enough jobs, youre sympathetic to the idea of creating more jobs. Im assuming all this, but I think its probably right assess the argument that we need pebble mines because the economy

needs people minds. The economy in Bristol Bay is driven by salmon and salmon runs, are very strong and very healthy. Weve got a thriving commercial salmon fishery that feeds the world. We have a thriving sports fishery that people come all over the world to experience and weve got a thriving ecotourism industry as well. Then you have the local people that have lived there for thousands of years and are sustaining the salmon runs. There is an economy that is functioning right now, and all we have to do is take care of it and put a big hole. Big mind at the headwaters of some of the salmon streams that originate and create this habitat is not really a good idea. Originally, I was all for this. I first heard about this proposal. Im pro business and just like many Alaskans appear, we understand resource development and resource extraction economy appear,

so I got it. I understood this could create jobs, and this could be a good opportunity, but then, like many Alaskans, the more we looked at it and the more we study debt. We found out this isnt the right location. Unfortunately, this location is too sensitive, and I think that is what the administration has come away with too. They have looked at it gone through the process gone through. The EIS program with the army corps of engineers come to a final situation where we go theres adverse consequences to going forward with it as planned, and we cant allow that to happen amen. So many of these conversations take place between people who know nothing about it. So we are just grateful to have someone like you who lives there and spends his life. There assess it for us thanks a lot for coming on. I.