What Others Say about Southwest Alaska

"The wild salmon of Southwest Alaska have supported the Yupik culture for thousands of years and provided economic opportunity for generations. The fate of our shareholders and the local communities is closely connected with the health of salmon and the habitat that supports them."

"Salmon are by far the most important subsistence resource for the local people of Southwest Alaska. More importantly, they are the basis for the economy and culture of our local communities."

"Bristol Bay Native Corporation is involved in Southwest Alaska salmon habitat conservation because it is a proactive, partner driven project that sustains a legacy of resource abundance and all the uses those resources support, including fishing, hunting and subsistence"

"GCI is pleased to join the partner organizations of the Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership, in support of Southwest Alaska habitat and resource conservation work. GCI supports efforts to maintain resource abundance. We believe that access to resources, for purposes of subsistence uses, hunting, fishing and other recreational activities is fundamental to the vision we share for the future of Alaska."

"Southwest Alaska contains five world class National Wildlife Refuges that include the world's greatest anadromous and cold water fisheries. These Refuges, along with other important areas in SW Alaska, are among the Nation's great resources. Their spectacular salmon runs present and support a veritable pageant of life that is the basis for the Region's ecology, economy, culture and recreation. Strategic conservation of a small portion of unprotected key habitats throughout the Region will do much to ensure the health and vitality of these fisheries and all they support."

"The Land Trust and the Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership provide local land owners conservation alternatives that help sustain the culture, subsistence, heritage, and fish and wildlife of Southwest Alaska."

"Southwest Alaska is simply one of the world’s richest fish and wildlife areas. Our challenge and responsibility is to apply the history lessons of two hundred years of society interacting with the land and perpetually secure the wonders of this region."

"I have fished in many places in Alaska. But Bristol Bay is the place I keep coming back to. A day spent on the rivers there is a day spent in a natural world still functioning as it did thousands of years ago. What a priceless gift in this day and age to see and be part of a system still functioning with all its parts. Huge runs of sockeye salmon surge by you as you wade unspoiled water looking for rainbow trout. Brown bears rule the rivers where we are visitors. And for the fishermen, when a wild rainbow hits your fly the connection to this wild place is complete. My greatest hope is that our children's children will have the same opportunity I have had. In Bristol Bay it is possible, if we act now, to have that hope realized and preserve this special place for all who come after us."

"The biodiversity of Southwest Alaska and its generally intact habitats offer the Nation a rare opportunity to conserve at relatively little cost what has been seriously degraded many places in the United States."

“The American Sportfishing Association agrees with the goal of ensuring that the national treasure of Southwest Alaska’s wild salmon resources will remain available to American sport anglers, and that abundant salmon returns can continue to provide their enormous contribution to the region’s wildlife, recreation, economy and people.”

“Columbia Sportswear is thrilled to support this conservation effort. We like to target our funds to projects that conserve exceptional natural resources and invest in the lands and waters that our customers use our equipment to enjoy.”

“Unfortunately, rapid change in the region is threatening freshwater habitats and the ecosystem components and economies that depend on them. Threats include changing land ownership, increasing human populations, and incompatible development and habitat fragmentation. Numerous tracts of private land in sensitive riparian areas are up for sale... Of special concern are private, predominantly Native-owned lands that make up a significant portion of the key conservation sites along Southwest Alaska’s major wild salmon rivers and lakes.”

“Leveraged funds from the hunting and fishing community to Southwest Alaska salmon and wildlife conservation provide perhaps the best wildlife return per dollar invested anywhere.”

“The Board of Directors of the Alaska Federation of Natives endorses the work of the SWAKCC to conserve habitat so the fish, wildlife, and traditional lifestyle of the region may be perpetuated.”

“Each regional fishery has its own respective challenges, and the last few years have put tremendous pressures on different regions of Alaska to the point of endangerment of cultures and livelihood. As an Alaskan, a fisherman, and a merchant, I have seen, felt, and am living through this experience as you read this. I am concerned for my friends, my family, and my customers and business acquaintances. We are at a crossroads now.”

“Poor commercial fishing seasons brought on by the global shift to farmed salmon has precipitated a regional economic crisis…the nation’s preeminent stronghold for salmon, trout, caribou, brown bears, moose and migratory birds is threatened by changing land patterns, especially private inholdings within (Southwest Alaska) conservation units.”

“The major fishing attractions are packed into four furious months, starting in June with king salmon runs up the fabled rivers such as the Nushagak. The world’s largest runs of sockeye, the gastronomic prize of Pacific salmon, peaks in July on the Kvichak system downstream from Lake Illiamna. Arctic char abound in Wood Tikchik State Park, the largest state park in the country. The Alagnak is the most popular river among Bristol Bay rainbow anglers, but for every crowded stream, a sleeper or two are waiting to be discovered in this Wisconsin-sized smidgen of Alaska.”

“The best float-fishing trips are undoubtedly found in southwestern Alaska…Our primary interest was trout, so we limited our search to the Alaska Peninsula, Bristol Bay, and the Lower Kuskokwim. These streams are crystal-clear and gravel-bottomed, with good runs of salmon and big rainbows. The area includes rivers such as the Alagnak, the Goodnews and the Kanektok, justifiably famous waters that are relatively easy to float.”

“In Southwest Alaska, everything from trout to trees thrives on nutrients delivered annually from the sea by upwards of 75 million returning adult salmon…It’s estimated that in the Bristol Bay region alone, salmon, by dying and decomposing – and with distribution help from bears, birds and insects – deposit over 1,000 tons of nitrogen each year along the area’s rivers, streams and lakes.

“A new large-scale salmon conservation project in Southwest Alaska promises enormous benefits for the long-term viability of thousands of coastal brown and interior grizzly bears… Bears will benefit from restrictions on permanent human developments in key spots thereby assuring that seasonal feeding use areas and travel corridors are unmolested.”

“It is fair that the indigenous people who have lived in these places for centuries own them. Natives have generally protected their land while making their living selling salmon. Most assumed that pattern would continue. But with the fish economy in shambles, cash-short natives are selling their land. Some in remote areas already have been platted and sold to developers, who are building cabins, lodges and airstrips. Even light development on wildlife concentration areas threatens salmon and wildlife that feeds on salmon eggs, such as brown bears and monstrous rainbow trout.”

“The Nushagak River is the twentieth largest river in North America by volume… All in all, flyfishing for silver salmon on the Nushagak River can be as exciting as you’d expect for such a prolific wild salmon producer. And it is at least one place where you can experience great angling and wilderness solitude at the same time.”

“All five species of Pacific salmon use the bays and rivers of Southwest Alaska, with total annual runs averaging 70 million. The future of the salmon is also tied to the livelihood of the brown bear. Other fish species rely on the rivers, as do caribou, moose and numerous birds.”

“Despite Alaska’s abundance of lakes and rivers, prime rainbow habitat proves surprisingly limited. While I’ve fished for rainbows in just about every part of the Great Land that they inhabit, the drainages of Bristol Bay and Lake Illiamna have no equal anywhere in the state.”

“A land rush for subdivided small-acre properties up and down Bristol Bay’s fabled rivers is a scenario that no one really wants. Dispossessed Natives, degraded habitat, and unplanned development could easily transform the region.”

“The region has five national wildlife refuges, three national parks and Alaska’s largest state park. Yet, all of these treasures have significant private inholdings. Natives want to keep land and their lifestyle intact but the (commercial) salmon fishery’s economic crash is causing a land rush for remote properties, which in turn get subdivided and resold and developed.”

"In my professional experience in worldwide big game hunting, I have always worked to benefit local people by strengthening the incentives they have for conserving game and its habitat. No lasting successes are possible where the interests of hunters and big game are at odds with the local people. The need bears, caribou, moose and several other species have for large blocks of intact habitat cannot be overstated. The Southwest Alaska project is designed to meet that need."