You don't have to be living in an area to be passionate about protecting it--just ask Brad Petzke of
Rivers North Guide Service here in the Upper Peninsula.
Petzke guides anglers all summer long for fly-fishing excursions across the U.P., but a recent trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with more that 40 other hunting and fishing advocates to oppose the "Pebble Mine" that is planned for the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.
Petzke and fellow sportsmen-conservationists delivered a letter to the Obama Administration from more than 500 hunting and angling groups around the country who want the EPA to take action under the Clean Water Act to conserve Bristol Bay.
"Whether it’s fighting to conserve wild, native brook trout here in the Upper Peninsula or working in Washington to protect the world’s greatest trophy rainbow trout and salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, my message is always pretty simple: Take care of the fish and the fishing will take care of itself,” says Petzke, a twelve-year veteran fly fishing guide.
This isn't the first the Upper Peninsula has heard about the rallying cry to stop Pebble Mine. When musher Tim Osmar, a former Yukon Quest winner, came to race in the annual U.P. 200, he came with the same message.
Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. Fed by nine major rivers and a wetland the size of Kentucky, Bristol Bay supports 12,000 commercial fishing and industry jobs, and more than 800 sport fishing and tourism jobs.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Brad Petzke, Rivers North Guide Service
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.