We have more good news from the Chilkat Valley in Southeast Alaska. American Pacific Mining Corp., the Canada-based company that recently took full ownership of the proposed Palmer Mine, has decided to step away from the Palmer Project—a proposed mixed metals mine that would be set at the headwaters of the Chilkat Watershed. This development follows the news from late 2024, when DOWA, a Japanese smelter company and major funder of the proposed Palmer Mine, also pulled out of the project.

Within the Chilkat Valley sits the 49,000-acre Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Important Bird Area (IBA). It’s home to the world’s largest congregation of Bald Eagles, the annual Alaska Bald Eagle Festival in November, and the Jilkaat Kwaan Cultural Heritage Center and Bald Eagle Preserve Observatory. Many sites in this region are found along the Southeast Alaska Birding Trail. The National Audubon Society Science Division also released an analysis proving the Chilkat Valley to be a major migration passage for many bird species, including 18% of the total North American population for Surf Scoters during spring migration. But in addition to birds, the Chilkat area is also one of the most biodiverse places in Alaska. 

The mine has been opposed by the Chilkat Indian Village (CIV) of Klukwan and conservationists and partners in the community of Haines for years, plus countless supporters who did not want to see Jilkáat Aani, or the Chilkat Valley, irreparably harmed. To learn more about the years-long fight for the Chilkat Watershed with CIV, residents in Haines, and Audubon Alaska, read Audubon’s story “Mining Could Pollute Alaska’s Chilkat Valley. A Tribe and Local Groups Defend their Way of Life.”

This is good news for the irreplaceable Chilkat Valley and Alaska birds in general, and it’s thanks in part to you. Your advocacy is producing results. We couldn’t do this work without you. Thank you for your continued support.