Mulchatna River photos
by Erin McKittrick
other Pebble Mine region photos

These photos are from the Mulchatna River 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.

1519 - Ducks taking off over the Mulchatna River.

1529 - Erin floating down the Mulchatna River in the Alpacka raft.

1531 - Bluffs eroding along the Mulchatna River.

1541 - Hig and Tom in a cotton grass field above the Mulchatna River.

1545 - Cotton grass blowing in the wind, above the Mulchatna River.

1548 - Tom walking between small tundra lakes, above the Mulchatna River.

1549 - Black spruce stand poking above a sea of cotton grass, above the Mulchatna River.

1551 - Cotton grass field, above the Mulchatna River.

1554 - Arctic tern nesting in the tundra, above the Mulchatna River.

1556 - Arctic tern guarding its nest, on the tundra above the Mulchatna River.

1560 - Bonaparte's gull taking off from the top of a spruce, above the Mulchatna River.

1566 - Bonaparte's gull in flight, above the Mulchatna River.

1571 - Cotton grass blowing in the wind, above the Mulchatna River.

1576 - Lousewort in the tundra, above the Mulchatna River.

1578 - Labrador tea flowers on the tundra above the Mulchatna River.

1583 - Blooming blueberries above the Mulchatna River.

1591 - Russian Orthodox cross in a graveyard at the site of old Stuyahok village, along the Mulchatna River.

1592 - Graveyard at the site of old Stuyahok village, the only obvious remnant of the town. Along the Mulchatna River.

1600 - Hanging out with Cutter at the Stuyahok River Lodge, near the confluence of the Stuyahok and Mulchatna Rivers.

1605 - Swallow homes in the bluffs along the Mulchatna River.

1631 - Willow and spruce forest along the banks of the Mulchatna River.

1637 - Tom fishing from the Alpacka raft on the Mulchatna River.

1645 - Moose along the banks of the Mulchatna River.

1647 - Arctic tern nearly dipping its wing in the Mulchatna River.

1670 - Arctic tern with a meal plucked from the Mulchatna River.

1676 - Tom fishing among the leaning trees on the banks of the Mulchatna River.

1698 - A pair of ducks taking off from the Mulchatna River.

1699 - A pair of ducks taking off from the Mulchatna River.

1700 - An unknown creature dives with a splash into the Mulchatna River.

1709 - Moose wading in the Mulchatna River.

1715 - Moose wading in the Mulchatna River.

1728 - Erin floating down the Mulchatna River in the Alpacka raft.

1734 - Erin and Tom paddling down the Mulchatna River in the Alpacka rafts.

1758 - Hig paddling down the Mulchatna River in the Alpacka raft.

1771 - Spray shooting off Tom's fishing line as he fishes at the confluence of the Mulchatna and Nushagak Rivers.