BETHEL, ALASKA —Today's announcement that NOVAGOLD has signed a deal to consolidate ownership of the proposed Donlin Gold project under a new publicly traded U.S. corporation may be significant for billionaire investors like Thomas Kaplan (who has not responded to MKTC request for dialogue) or John Paulson (who has not responded to MKTC request for dialogue)  who are gambling on gold, but it changes nothing on the ground in Western Alaska for the people who would live with the consequences of the proposed mine.

BETHEL, ALASKA —The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition has asked Panthera, a global wildcat conservation organization, to address why multiple board members are invested in a gold mine that would harm the habitat of the Canada Lynx in Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

BETHEL, ALASKA — The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition, alongside partners and community members, will host a “Rally for the River” in Bethel on Friday, June 5, at 11:30am -1pm to show support for protecting the Kuskokwim River and opposing the proposed Donlin Gold mine.

Bethel, Alaska — The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition (MKTC) welcomes the recent formal vote to oppose the proposed Donlin Gold Mine taken by the Bering Sea Interior Tribal Commission, an association of 44 sovereign Tribal governments.

BETHEL, ALASKA— The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition condemns the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council's decision to add the Donlin Gold project to its Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (“FAST-41”) list. This insensitive federal action is particularly inappropriate while our region’s Tribes are waiting on the mine’s federal permitting agencies to address flaws identified by a federal court and, more importantly, responding to the humanitarian crisis following the hit our region took from Typhoon Halong.  A rushed permitting process threatens to override critical environmental protections and silence Yukon-Kuskokwim communities who depend on healthy rivers for survival.

BETHEL, ALASKA – A U.S. District Court in Alaska ruled yesterday, in a case brought by six Tribes from the Yukon-Kuskokwim region,, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) must supplement the proposed Donlin Gold project’s environmental study, a well-deserved victory for the six Kuskokwim River tribes who brought suit, and a development cheered by those thousands of Alaska Natives who stand firmly against a project that would bring little benefit to the the region.

“I’m not a financial expert, but it makes me wonder why Barrick Gold is walking away from what they had billed as a slam-dunk mining opportunity at a time when gold prices are soaring to record highs?” 

BETHEL, AK — In a landmark decision for the communities of the YK Delta,  U.S. District Court Judge Gleason ruled on Monday that the federal analysis issued in 2018 for Donlin was unlawful because it failed to realistically study the consequences of a catastrophic tailings dam failure. This ruling is a profound affirmation of the concerns long expressed by the majority of tribes, Calista shareholders and Mother Kuskokwim regarding the project's severe risks to our environmental and human health.

BETHEL, ALASKA — The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition celebrates the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s announcement today that it is moving forward with protections for 28 million acres of D1 lands across Alaska, including several million acres in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region, and asks the Biden Administration to move forward with the coalition’s request to protect all adjacent lands and waters under federal jurisdiction in the Kuskokwim River system.

BETHEL, ALASKA — The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal coalition celebrates the Biden Administration’s announcement today that it is moving forward with protections for 28 million acres of D1 lands across Alaska, including several million acres in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region.

Bethel, AK – Mother Kuskokwim Tribal coalition members today expressed deep disappointment with Alaska’s Congressional delegation, which today filed an amicus brief in support of mining interests planning what would be the world’s largest gold mine in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The Yukon-Kuskokwim is one of the world’s largest river deltas and a critically important ecosystem that is more valuable than gold to people in the region.

Bethel, AK – A new report released today by a team of scientists and engineers found that a failure or breach of the dam designed to hold toxic mine waste at the proposed Donlin Gold Mine would pose significant threats to downstream communities and create long-term, devastating ecological impacts along the Kuskokwim River watershed. The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition will travel with Tribal Government leaders to hand deliver the report next week to permitting officials and members of congress in Washington DC next week.

JUNEAU, AK - Today the Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition applauds the introduction of the “Balance for the Kuskokwim River Act,” HB 357 by Rep. CJ McCormick (D-Bethel), a bill that would codify the designation of the Kuskokwim as a Tier III waterbody under the Federal Clean Water Act. The bill would ensure that the water quality of the Kuskokwim River is protected and the customary and traditional subsistence lifestyle of the people of the region is prioritized and protected.