Alaska Legislature introduces the Bristol Bay Forever Act

The state bill would help protect the world’s greatest sockeye salmon fishery.

In the closing days of Alaska’s 2025 legislative session, state lawmakers introduced the Bristol Bay Forever Act. This bill aims to safeguard the entire, 36,000-square-mile Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve from all large-scale metallic sulfide mining: the type of mining most harmful to salmon.

These state-level protections would further advance a decades-long campaign—led by the United Tribes of Bristol Bay and the Bristol Bay Defense Fund coalition—to keep Bristol Bay’s priceless salmon fishery safe from the very real threat of massive mineral exploitation, as embodied by our fight against the Pebble Mine.

“Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery is irreplaceable,” Wild Salmon Center Alaska Director Emily Anderson. “And yet, for decades, Pebble Mine has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the region, affecting Tribes, communities, small businesses, and a $2.2 billion regional economy.”

“Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery is irreplaceable. And yet, for decades, Pebble Mine has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the region.”
Wild Salmon Center Alaska Director Emily Anderson

For more than a decade, Alaska Native Tribes, hundreds of business owners, and millions of people across the globe have fought to keep Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery safe from the Pebble Mine project and other metallic sulfide mining operations. A newly introduced state bill would help do just that. (PC: Cassie Bergman.)

Thanks to tireless advocacy by these communities—and the support of millions of people across the globe—federal decisions in recent years have blocked the advancement of the Pebble Mine project. In 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected a key permit for the mine, and in 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invoked Clean Water Act protections to make the headwaters of Bristol Bay’s Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers off limits to hardrock mining. But the threat is not over. Northern Dynasty Minerals, the principal backer of the Pebble project, has challenged both decisions in court and is aggressively trying to overturn them.

Alaska legislators are now stepping up to add another layer of protection for Bristol Bay. If enacted, the Bristol Bay Forever Act would protect the entire Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve from the Pebble Mine and mining operations in 20 additional known mineral deposits in the region. This law would not only help ensure the future of the largest salmon fishery on Earth and the communities that depend on it, but also 15,000 jobs and hundreds of small businesses.

In Bristol Bay, Alaska, fishing is a family business—and a way of life that helps sustain a $2.2 billion regional economy. (PC: Jeffrey Rotman/Alamy Stock Photo.)

“Alaskans have demanded stronger protections for Bristol Bay for years,” Anderson says. “Now Alaska’s leaders are meeting the challenge head on with a state-based solution to safeguard our largest and most sustainable salmon fishery.”

House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham), Representative Andy Josephson (D-Anchorage), and Representative Sara Hannan (D-Juneau) introduced the Bristol Bay Forever Act in the 2025 session’s closing days in late May. Wild Salmon Center and our coalition will now build momentum for this important bill by raising awareness and support across Alaska. Join us in supporting the Bristol Bay Forever Act.

“Alaskans have demanded stronger protections for Bristol Bay for years. Now Alaska’s leaders are meeting the challenge head on.”
Wild Salmon Center Alaska Director Emily Anderson

Alaska Legislature introduces the Bristol Bay Forever Act