Mark Glassmaker and his clients have taken advantage of the salmon run along the Chuitna River for 20 years. Taking anglers to one of the main tributaries of the river, he compares the size of the king salmon to those in the Kasilof and Kenai Rivers. But an open pit coal mine can change all that.
"It's very remote and inaccessible, much like the rest of the west side of Cook Inlet," said Glassmaker, who owns Alaska Fishing with Mark Glassmaker, a guide service that operates out of Soldotna. "With a substantial coal mine and the number of workers and the process of strip mining, which is invasive to the river, is definitely bad news for the Chuitna."
Glassmaker flies his clients in and out of the area via helicopter and said in addition to the king salmon run, the Chuitna hosts a prolific coho salmon run as well as an abundance of resident rainbow trout. Even though he says he's sure Pac Rim, the company behind the Chuitna coal mine, will take safeguards to protect the watershed, he also says a coal mine and a wild salmon river doesn't mix.
Because of the threat the coal mine poses not only in the destruction of a near pristine habitat, but also the introduction of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, the Chuitna River made American Rivers' list of top 10 endangered rivers for 2007. American Rivers, a nationwide environmental advocacy group, posted an updated version of their endangered rivers list on their Web site, blog.americanrivers.org, on Oct. 22.
David Moryc, associate director for the river heritage campaign for American Rivers, said the Chuitna was one among as many as 80 rivers nominated for a spot on the most endangered rivers list. The list includes other rivers and riparian habitats that are being threatened by a human-caused source.
"We're talking about a massive coal strip mine that threatens a near-pristine salmon spawning area," Moryc said, adding that a river doesn't have to be polluted to be considered endangered. "And when you look at the scope of this mine, we're looking at it impacting communities that rely on the health of this river system."
The coal project would include a 12-mile-long, partially-enclosed coal conveyance system, an airstrip, worker housing and a two-mile long trestle and dock system extending into Cook Inlet in order to accommodate coal storage and loading. When fully developed, the mine could strip up to a billion metric tons of coal from 30 square miles along the watershed.
David Rutz, a fishery biologist for the Matanuska-Susitna jurisdiction of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the coal mine would eliminate two tributaries of the Chuitna system by diverting the water in order to create a new tributary that would release the water. Even though Pac Rim is supposed to reconstruct the eliminated tributaries once the mine is played out, Rutz said it's difficult to believe the mining company will actually do that.
"Those people who were around at the beginning of the mine are not around toward the end to see if that reclamation actually happens," he said, adding that the life of the mine may not end for more than 20 years. "Down the line it's difficult to even imagine that (the reclamation of those tributaries) might happen or won't happen."
Bob Shavelson, executive director of Cook Inletkeeper, said the Chuitna River made the endangered rivers list in April because of the fishermen and residents of Tyonek and Beluga who were concerned about the fishery. Listing the Chuitna as an endangered river made more people aware of what a strip mine could do, he said, which increased the level of opposition.
"In an area like Chuitna, it's unlike any other area where they've tried to do coal strip mining," Shavelson said. "It's a very wet area (with) important salmon habitat."
Both Glassmaker and Rutz see the mine as a big draw of people. In addition to development along the river, Rutz expects workers to want to fish the Chuitna as well, which increase the number of sport fishermen.
"Obviously you always hope the development can be done with the utmost care and to preserve the natural integrity of things, but it's still a concern," Rutz said. "When you take a couple of tributaries out of the system, even though they're small, there's still concerns."
Glassmaker echoes those concerns and hopes the development doesn't move forward.
"I don't think there's any easy way to have us a coal mine, and unfortunately the sheer exposure or the number of people is definitely a hazard to the fish," he said. "Hopefully common sense will prevail and it won't happen, but it's a very scary process."
Jessica Cejnar can be reached at jessica.cejnar@peninsulaclarion.com.
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