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One Month Remaining to get Your Chances on the Alaska Hunt Package

One Month Remaining to get Your Chances on the Alaska Hunt Package Moose or Grizzly Bear.  Your Choice!!!!

There's just one month to go on the Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska's Bristol Bay Hunt Promotion , which HuntingLife.com has been supporting since it was launched. This is one of the best drawings we've ever seen!  In addition to a 10-day hunt with Alaska Wilderness Trips, Inc., the winner will also receive a new Kimber rifle, Leupold scope, and set of gear from Sitka.  It's a package worth nearly $12,000! The goal was to receive 500 donations of $50 to help raise money to fight for southwest Alaska's famed Bristol Bay region.  It's probably a sign of the economy, but there are still a lot of chances available, so get yours now!  Your chances will likely be much better than 1 in 500.  Also, the Whitney family at Alaska Wilderness Trips, Inc. has offered to make this hunt a choice for the winner - you can either hunt moose or grizzly bear!  So it's an even better deal, odds-wise and in the content of the package, than was initially offered.  This is a terrific promotion for a very good cause.   If you're interested in reading the press release from the launch of the promotion which has all the details, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page. The winner is tentatively scheduled to be drawn on June 15 at the Outdoor Writers Association of America annual conference in Grand Rapids, MI. 

ISSUE UPDATE
While hunters are in the field looking for spring bears in the rolling hills of the Bristol Bay region, the battle to protect this region - one of the planet's top sporting destinations - goes on.
 
The proposed Pebble Mine would be the largest open-pit mine in North America if it were developed.  Locating such a project in the heart of Bristol Bay puts one of the top sport hunting and fishing destinations on the planet at risk.  That's why groups like Dallas Safari Club, Wildlife Forever, Izaak Walton League of America, American Sportfishing Association, Trout Unlimited, Federation of Fly Fishers, and more along with over 150 companies in the fishing and hunting product industries have gone on record in favor of keeping Bristol Bay off limits to massive industrial development.
 
The two foreign companies behind the Pebble Mine proposal indicate that they hope to conclude their field studies this year and enter the multi-year state and federal permitting process sometime in 2010.
 
The threat, unfortunately, goes further than just Pebble Mine...
 
The Bureau of Land Management's Bay Area Resource Management Plan was completed with a Record of Decision signed in December of 2008.  This sets forth management recommendations for approximately 1.5 million acres of federal public lands in Good News Bay and Bristol Bay. Of this total, approximately 1 million acres is located in Bristol Bay - largely along the Nushagak and Kvichak rivers.  These are two of the most productive salmon-producing rivers in the world.  The BLM's Record of Decision recommends opening 99% of the entire planning area to mineral development and oil and gas leasing, which had been protected from such activities for decades.  In addition, the plan failed to complete the required analysis work and adopt adequate protections for Bristol Bay.  Despite overwhelming opposition from a very diverse set of stakeholders throughout the planning process, the public is seeking resolution through engaging Alaska's Congressional delegation and key staff at the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Land Management.  Hopefully in the coming year the plan for the BLM lands in the Bristol Bay region will be revised and will include much more favorable terms for conservation of the area's fish and game resources.
 

This is sure to be a long, hard-fought battle.  By getting informed and staying involved, it's one that you can help fight!