Alaska Conservation Foundation (ACF) sponsored the Alaska Conference on Mining Impacts and Prevention—Land, Water, Consent: Stewards Shaping Alaska’s Future from May 6 to 8, 2025, in Girdwood, Alaska. About 200 attendees participated in plenary and concurrent breakout sessions with networking during breaks and evening events. Included was a viewing of the 2024 documentary film “UNEARTH” about the proposed Pebble Mine.
The opening plenary (including former Audubon attorney Nada Wolff Culver) described progress in Tribal sovereignty on mining concerns during the Biden administration. Three breakout sessions occurred on the first day. They started with mining basics, federal policy under the current administration, mining health impacts, and D-1 lands. The second breakout was economics of mining (and the role of the Alaska Industrial Development Authority or AIDEA), mining impacts on water and fish, energy transition minerals, and co-creating a new gold narrative. The third breakout was mining finance and tax breaks, Alaska hardrock mine polling results, coalition communications, and no Ambler Road.
Day two began with a plenary on what meaningful consent means, especially with the special legal status of Tribes. The fourth breakout included the mine permitting process, Tribal community benefits agreements, local partnerships, and case studies in Alaska, and understanding Tribal government-to-government rights. The fifth breakout included a deeper look at Free Prior and Informed Consent, Alaska communities standing up, federal lobbying in a divided Congress, and ore hauls.
The final day began with a sixth breakout on what mining standards to do for Alaska, protecting Mother Kuskokwim, traditional healing, and Indigenous land stewardship and regenerative economies. The conference ended with a plenary on Indigenous knowledge keeping that informs the protection of land and waters across generations and in Alaska.
The Mining Impacts and Prevention Fund of ACF supported grassroots and Tribal efforts to address industrial-scale mining and associated activities across Alaska, including the Alaska Mining Impacts Network. The 2025 conference was a follow up to the initial conference in 2022, subtitled A Gathering of Land and Water Guardians.
—Audubon Alaska advisory board member Tom Paragi worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on several national wildlife refuges. In 1999, he was hired by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to conduct research on wildlife habitat management in the boreal forest, and over time, he undertook applied research on birds and mammals. Through these work experiences and recreational travel in Alaska, Tom developed an appreciation of the diverse ecosystems, anthropogenic effects, and human values associated with nature. He learned to identify adaptive challenges as a fellow at the National Conservation Leadership Institute and helped colleagues undertake constructive engagement on controversial issues. Recently retired from ADF&G, he continues to live outside of Fairbanks and to advocate and volunteer for Alaska State Parks.
