Recent Media Coverage of Alaska-B.C. Transboundary Issue
10-year Anniversary of Alaska-B.C. Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation
11/25/25: Salmon Beyond Borders and Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association issued a joint press release — Ten years after the BC-Alaska transboundary Memorandum of Understanding, Dunleavy Administration leaves Alaskans in the dark: “Alaska's fisheries are increasingly at risk from British Columbia’s transboundary mines. We rely on both state and federal governments to negotiate meaningful protection for Alaska waterways and fisheries. In the absence of meaningful action our fish, fisheries and fishing communities are vulnerable.” — Linda Behnken, ALFA executive director
11/28/25: Alaska News Nightly reported on the 10-year anniversary of the MOU, and Alaska Public Media published a longer piece on the MOU on 12/2/25: “Alaskans learned about… [B.C. mine] pollution through the media. They did not learn about that from the state or…the province of B.C….” — Breanna Walker on Alaska News Nightly
12/4/25: National Fisherman reported on the lack of contamination safeguards for transboundary mines: “All future [B.C. transboundary] mines are now properly bonded to ensure cleanup in the event of an incident, and restoration plans are in place for legacy sites like the Tulsequah Chief mine…. Overall, the agreement is delivering results, and we are seeing meaningful progress." — Doug Vincent-Lang, ADF&G commissioner
**Note: B.C. does not require mines to post full reclamation bond, as AK requires.
12/5/25: Juneau Independent opinion piece by Randy Bates, DEC commissioner: “These cooperative agreements [between Alaska and B.C.] ensure that information flows between our agencies and to the public, so Alaskans can see the same data we rely on…. Public concern is not something we dismiss; it is something we respond to with data, transparency, and accountability.” — Randy Bates, DEC commissioner
**Note: The Dunleavy Administration has not reached out to Alaskans regarding B.C. mining updates, including B.C. mine pollution events.
12/10/25: Juneau Independent oped by Breanna Walker in response Bates: “The stack of State of Alaska public letters expressing concern and asking questions of B.C. and Canada goes back to the Knowles Administration in 1998, to the Parnell Administration in 2014, and to letters under the Walker Administration, ending in 2018. Strikingly, under Governor Dunleavy, public communication between the State of Alaska and B.C. and Canada has seemingly evaporated, outside of the State of Alaska’s singular webpage…. It’s almost as if Bates, Vincent-Lang, and other state officials are out to protect the image of foreign-owned and operated mines over everything else….” — Breanna Walker, Salmon Beyond Borders campaign director
12/15/25: Linda Behnken’s oped in Juneau Independent, responding to Bates’ oped: “B.C. transboundary mining is a major concern for Southeast Alaska fishermen. It's also a concern for Southeast Alaska municipalities, tribes and legislators. All of us have expressed specific, strong concerns and made some clear requests. None of that is reflected in the Dunleavy administration's materials, approach, or assurances.” — Linda Behnken, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association E.D.
To our knowledge, the Dunleavy Administration hasn’t publicly commented on B.C. transboundary mines nor pollution events, as Tribes, stakeholder groups like Salmon Beyond Borders, Alaskans, and federal agencies have.
10/8/25: KTOO - “Juneau residents voice opposition to proposed New Polaris gold mine in B.C.”
11/27/25: Business in Vancouver reported on the upcoming votes in the Tahltan nation re: the Eskay Creek gold mine and tailings dams, proposed for the headwaters of the Unuk River, and the subject of a consent-based agreement between B.C. and the Tahltan Central Government. We understand that B.C. and the TCG will decide in early Jan. 2026 whether or not to approve this project.
12/12/25: CBC reported on Eskay Creek gold mine in final stages of B.C. review “‘I’ve got two concerns from a mining standpoint. One has to do with the tailings, and the waste rock that’s going to be disposed with it…. [They] are acid-producing, but they’re not going to line the bottom of the impoundment…. The way it’s been designed as presented in the environmental assessment, it could quite easily fail in an earthquake….It just doesn’t meet high design standards, quite frankly.’” — Dr. Dave Chambers, Center for Science in Public Participation, in CBC
Tulsequah Chief Mine Update Webinar, co-hosted by Teck Resources & TRTFN
“Alaskans need the ability to give meaningful input on the Tulsequah Chief remediation plans. A curated Q&A from Teck that did not acknowledge or publish all questions — including one about Teck’s responsibility for full cleanup — is not true input and collaboration. The State of Alaska and Province of British Columbia are falling short of…commitments....” — Breanna Walker, SBB campaign director
12/3/25: Juneau Independent reported: “Efforts to both resume mining and clean up the site have stalled over a period of decades. Critics in recent years have accused the Dunleavy administration of falling short on pushing Canada to clean up the mine to prevent transboundary pollution….‘The B.C. government could legally hold Teck, the mine’s historical owner, liable for the estimated $100 million cost of the cleanup right now,’ a statement by the Alaska-based advocacy group Salmon Beyond Borders issued after the webinar asserted. ‘Instead of doing that… [B.C.] is hoping Teck will continue to volunteer to be involved.’”
12/8/25: Alaska Business Monthly reported on Tulsequah Chief and Teck-Anglo merger
U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty (U.S. and Canada are renegotiating treaty by 2028)
11/3/25: KCAW published an article on the Pacific Salmon Commission meetings that were held in Sitka Oct. 21-23, 2025. This piece includes a recording of the many Alaskans who testified at the meeting, most of whom spoke of their serious concerns about B.C. transboundary mining pollution.
12/5/25: Victoria Times Colonist published Sitka troller Jeff Farvour’s “Comment: Let’s work together to ensure wild salmon thrive,” in response to an 11/15/25 opinion piece in the same outlet from a B.C. resident, ”Comment: The Pacific Northwest should unite to tackle [Alaskans’] overharvest in the Pacific Salmon Treaty.” Farvour wrote, in part, of the importance that habitat be considered in the PST:
"We also understand that healthy wild salmon runs require healthy habitat and clean water, which is why our fleet has spent years fighting…industrial mining in northern British Columbia’s transboundary rivers."