Koktuli River photos
by Erin McKittrick
other Pebble Mine region photos

These photos are from the Lake Iliamna segment of my month-long, 450+ mile Trek through the Pebble Mine watersheds

The Pebble Mine project is a controversial proposal by Northern Dynasty Minerals to build one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world, in southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna. Northern Dynasty has not yet applied for permits, but their current proposal involves both a large open pit and an underground mine, as well as removal of the water from the headwaters of Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River ( important fish habitats). The site sits at the headwaters of two major Bristol Bay drainages ( Nushagak and Kvichak), and potentially poses a large threat to the region's salmon. This proposal has become a major political issue in Alaska, pitting pro-mining forces against local native villages and commercial and sport fishermen.

Pictures and other files are provided free for download for non-profit use only. Please credit the photographer (Erin McKittrick). For commercial use, please contact me at mckittre at gmail dot com. My photographs of the Pebble Mine area have been published in Alaska and Fly Fisherman magazines, the Bristol Bay Times, as well as by the Renewable Resources Coalition, the Wilderness Society, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and other environmental groupss.

Click here for Word file with captions, and jpg file showing picture locations.

1381 - Upper South Fork Koktuli River, with its last banks of snow, just downstream of Frying Pan Lake.

1383 - Flattened grass along the upper South Fork Koktuli River.

1385 - Stones at the edge of a shallow tundra lake, upper South Fork Koktuli River.

1386 - Wolf tracks on the edge of a tundra lake, upper South Fork Koktuli River.

1387 - Remnants of snow on the mountains over upper South Fork Koktuli River.

1394 - Meanders near the headwaters of the South Fork Koktuli River.

1405 - Mounded tundra along the edge of the South Fork Koktuli River.

1409 - Beaver dam on the South Fork Koktuli River.

1417 - Looking down at a gaging station on the South Fork Koktuli River.

1419 - Floating down the South Fork Koktuli River.

1423 - Low tundra terrace over the South Fork Koktuli River.

1426 - Bald eagle's nest in a willow on the South Fork Koktuli River.

1427 - Gravel beaches on the South Fork Koktuli River.

1428 - Cooking lunch on a beach on the South Fork Koktuli River.

1429 - Setting off in the rafts on the South Fork Koktuli River.

1433 - Panorama from a hill above the South Fork Koktuli River

1439 - Views from a hill above the South Fork Koktuli River.

1449 - Looking through the trees over the South Fork Koktuli River.

1453 - Gravelly bluffs above the South Fork Koktuli River.

1463 - Lichen on an alder along the Koktuli River.

1468 - Floating under a leaning tree on the Koktuli River.

1475 - High bush cranberries blowing in the wind on the banks of the South Fork Koktuli River.

1481 - Grasses blowing in the wind on the banks of the Koktuli River.

1484 - Our rafts tethered to trees in the wind on the Koktuli River.

1497 - Approaching the Jack Rabbit Hills and the Swan River, on the Koktuli River.