Earned Media

Mike Fernandez, Audubon

Audubon • September 27 2024

Mining Could Pollute Alaska’s Chilkat Valley. A Tribe and Local Groups Defend their Way of Life.

Construction for their exploratory tunnel alone could do lasting damage. “If the project is allowed to advance, it could potentially pollute our entire river system,” Donahue says. “And almost everybody in this valley participates in some form of subsistence activity—fishing, hunting, collecting berries—so it would absolutely change the ways of life of the communities here.”

Trinity News • May 27 2024

An Alaskan Compass & Kaleidoscope: In Conversation with Shannon Donahue –

Shannon Kelly Donahue is an American environmental activist and writer based in Haines, Alaska. Last month, she shared her vision with Trinity News. “I share the land with bears and moose and eagles and wolves,” Donahue remarked. “Glaciers drip from the mountains, and huge chunks of ice crash off of them. There’s an honesty to this lifestyle that can be hard to achieve in a lot of places. This land won’t let you off the hook.’ Her work as Executive Director of the Great Bear Foundation and commu

Connor Gallagher

Audubon Alaska • May 1 2024

The Importance of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve IBA to Migratory Birds

Not many places on the planet look like Jilkáat Aani, or the Chilkat Valley. There are dramatic mountains, common in Southeast Alaska, the distinguished silty teal color of the waters, postcard communities, and life everywhere.

“We do have the jagged mountains, the Chilkat Range,” says Lani Strong Hotch, an award-winning textile artist and Chilkat Indian Village-proclaimed culture bearer. “I look out my window and I can see where part of the Tsirku enters into the Chilkat.”

The Chilkat Valley

the Guardian • June 22 2021

A tiny Alaska town is split over a goldmine. At stake is a way of life

For 2,000 years, Jones Hotch’s ancestors have fished Alaska’s Chilkat River for the five species of salmon that spawn in its cold, clean waters. They have gathered berries, hunted moose and raised their families, sheltered from the extremes of winter by the black, saw-toothed peaks of the Iron Mountain.

Now Hotch fears a proposed mining project could end that way of life.

Hotch has an infectious, boyish laugh – but there is no mistaking how worried he is about plans to build a mine where milli

Tom Ganner

Chilkat Valley News • August 13 2024

State euthanizes juvenile brown bear after incidents at Chilkoot State Park - Chilkat Valley News

“It’s such a shame to see a bear get killed without addressing the root causes,” said Shannon Donahue, executive director of the Great Bear Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to bear and bear habitat conservation. She would not comment on the State Park’s decision to kill the bear since she was not involved in the decision making process.

“The Chilkoot River Corridor is a place that has a high risk of conflict because of its prime brown bear habitat,” Donahue said. It’s a place where people enjoy a number of different activities from fishing to bear viewing to the lake and camping. “And it is necessary to manage it actively for those things. So you wind up with this dynamic that allows bears, if it’s not actively managed, bears are at high risk of getting human food.”

Sierra Magazine • January 15 2022

Proposed Gold and Silver Mine in Southeast Alaska Threatens Salmon, Bald Eagles, and Local Food Security

Lani Hotch's hands run in and out of wool thread, weaving patterns that reflect the lands and waters of her ancestral territory. Outside her window, the Chilkat, a powerful glacier-fed river, churns toward the sea. In Hotch’s backyard, salmon strips are curing in a smokehouse. Hotch was born here in Klukwan, Alaska, a Tlingit settlement with a name that translates to “eternal village.”

The motifs Hotch weaves were passed down from the generations of women who came before her, including a patter

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • August 23 2023

Administrative court rules to uphold Constantine wastewater permit, with modifications

An administrative court ruled to uphold a wastewater disposal permit at the Palmer Project, but with some modifications. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation will have to change the way it sets limits on pollutant levels. This could delay some operations at the proposed mine site.

A coalition of tribal and environmental groups has challenged a wastewater treatment permit issued to Constantine. Shannon Donahue works for Rivers Without Borders, one of the groups that appealed the p

Photo by Connor Gallagher, courtesy of Takshanuk Watershed Council

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • August 10 2023

Palmer project receives permit for seismic exploration

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources on Monday issued a permit to the proposed mine site, the Palmer Project. The permit allows the company to go ahead with seismic exploration work near the Klehini River.

The Palmer Project is a Copper, Zinc, Gold and Silver exploration project, upstream from Haines and Klukwan. Constantine Metals, who owns the Palmer Project, has received permission from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to proceed with seismic exploration at two sites above th

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • May 19 2023

Comments period extended for Palmer Project new phase

A mining prospect near the headwaters of the Chilkat River is entering a new phase of operations. And the public comment period has been extended.

The Palmer Project is a Copper, Zinc, Gold and Silver exploration project, upstream from Haines and Klukwan. Representatives for the Palmer Project and American Pacific, who owns it, did not return requests for comment on this story.

The company has applied for an amendment to its 2019 application. It will require a state land use permit.

This info

Juneau Empire • January 3 2023

SEACC entangled in union dispute

The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council’s office in Juneau is where the executive director is facing a challenge from several non-management employees who voted in December to unionize and are petitioning the National Labor Relations Board for recognition of that vote by the non-profit conservation organization . (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Non-management employees seeking union status at the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council are petitioning the National Labor Relations Board, arguin

Chilkat Valley News • October 13 2022

State re-approves Palmer Project wastewater plan

The Alaska Division of Water again approved Constantine Mining’s wastewater discharge plan for underground mineral exploration at the Palmer Project, an exploratory mining operation upriver from Haines and Klukwan.

The division initially approved the plan last May but in response to concerns raised this summer by the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan (CIV), Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner Jason Brune vacated approval last month and remanded it for further revi

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • July 29 2022

Activists call out federal agencies for lack of public input on Haines-area mine

Environmental activists claim that government agencies are failing to allow the public to weigh in on a controversial mining project near Haines. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council is asking residents to pressure federal agencies to open up the decision-making process surrounding the Palmer Project to allow public feedback. KHNS’ Mike Swasey talked with the council’s Upper Lynn Canal organizer Shannon Donahue about the effort.

Swasey – Shannon Donohue with the Southeast Alaska Conservation C

Earth Island Journal • July 21 2022

The Bearpocalypse

In total that summer, residents and law enforcement killed at least 49 brown bears in Haines — about one-fifth of the local bear population. There is some evidence that the number killed might be as high as 60. Most were shot.

Between June and November, there were bear shootings nearly every week. While some of the bears were legally shot during hunting season, more than half were shot by residents and police “in defense of life or property,” or DLP. Alaska state law allows the killing of game

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • April 26 2021

AIDEA considers shuttering its ore terminal in Skagway and building a new one in Haines

The state’s development corporation is thinking about decommissioning its ore terminal in Skagway and opening a similar facility in Haines instead. Local officials in Haines see it as an opportunity to upgrade old shipping infrastructure. It’s an expensive proposition, and one that not all Haines residents are excited about.

Skagway’s deep water port has been used to ship ore from the Yukon for over a century. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) bought Skagway’s ore t

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • April 12 2022

Haines officials advance Lutak Dock redevelopment amidst questions over purpose

Haines officials are working to finalize a $28 million redevelopment plan for its freight and fuel dock, the Lutak Dock. As borough officials are negotiating to secure the remaining roughly $3 million in state funding, many residents are alarmed at the possibility for an ore transport facility as part of the redevelopment project. See the proposed plan here.

Haines harbormaster Shawn Bell says phase three of the Lutak Dock redevelopment plan would ensure both freight and fuel barges would conti

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • June 24 2021

As freight ramp repairs continue, Haines Borough votes to support first phases of Lutak Dock redevelopment plan

The Lutak Dock redevelopment plan was at the center of Tuesday night’s Haines Borough Assembly meeting, with the public weighing in for and against the new phased approach. As KHNS’ Corinne Smith reports, last week, the roll-on, roll-off ramp leased by Alaska Marine Lines partially sank, and the incident has added to the intensity of the public debate.

Representatives of Alaska Marine Lines say they are still investigating why Haines’ roll-on, roll-off ramp partially sank last week at Lutak Doc

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • August 28 2020

Law enforcement kills more bears after property damage, break-ins

This week residents in the Haines townsite heard an unusual amount of gunfire as law enforcement worked to get bears off of property where they’d found food. There’s been a dramatic uptick in bear damage this August.

Luck Dunbar zipped his coat and walked down a line of storage units he rents out on Small Tracts Road, and pointed out bear damage to his property.

“We’re looking at eight doors all piled up at the end of the end a lot there,” he said.

Bears ripped the garage-style doors off of e

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • July 23 2020

Volunteers offer to pick fruit for free to avoid attracting bears

A group of nonprofits in Haines are offering to help residents pick fruit from their trees for free. The new initiative aims to help the community take advantage of locally grown fruit while removing a possible bear attractant.

Haines has seen an increase in reports of encounters with bears in residential areas over the past year. Often these bears are attracted to outdoor food sources such as chicken coops, gardens and fruit-bearing trees.

Shannon Donahue is the Executive Director of the Grea

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • April 29 2020

Supreme Court decision could influence permitting at the Palmer Project

The Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the Clean Water Act applies to pollutants that reach protected waters, even from a distance. Conservationists say it’s a win for clean water. It could mean stricter permitting is required for Constantine Metal Resources’ expansion plans for a mine project near Haines. State regulators remain tight-lipped about what might happen next.

Conservation groups have been waiting on the outcome of the federal case County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund to see h

CBC • December 17 2019

Proposed Alaskan mine threatens salmon, environmentalists say | News

Some residents of Haines, Alaska, are refusing to participate in public consultations about a proposed mine near the community.

B.C.-based Constantine Metal Resources wants public input for its Palmer project. The proposed underground copper-zinc-silver-gold mine near Haines is in the advanced exploration stage.

Consultations were held in Haines earlier this month. But environmental groups and some individuals have chosen not to participate in the interview-driven feedback consultations.

"We

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • December 17 2019

Haines conservation groups snub Constantine’s engagement effort

Some conservation groups in Haines have been speaking out against a local mining project for years. When the mining company hired a consultant to document community concerns this winter, the didn’t show up. Here’s what happened.

Constantine Metal Resources and Whitehorse-based environmental consultant Hemmera invited organizations and individuals to sit down for informal, confidential interviews. It’s a chance for locals to weigh in on the controversial project—and a way for Constantine to lear

Camas Magazine • November 15 2019

EVST Alumni Collaborate and Bring Light to Urgent Environmental Issue — Camas Magazine

The story, The Chilkat’s Fight Against the Palmer Project, was published on The Cleanest Line in September. It details the threats the Palmer Project would have on the headwaters of the Chilkat River. The interviews expose the deep and rich history of the Chillkat Tlingit who have lived on the land for over 2,000 years. The connections between salmon, the Chilkat River and the native community are the essence of the story.

Shannon is grateful to her connection with Tim and his willingness to ta

KHNS Radio | KHNS FM • September 26 2019

Governor Dunleavy touts economic benefits after visiting Palmer Project

Conservation groups are objecting after Governor Mike Dunleavy posted pictures on Facebook of an unannounced trip to Haines last week to visit the site of a controversial proposed mine.

Governor Dunleavy posted photos on his official page last Thursday of his visit to the Palmer Project. That’s a potential mine under development by Constantine Metal Resources, a Canadian company. He said he would continue “pushing to make Alaska ‘Open for Business.” Afterward, the comments on his post erupted i

Juneau Empire • September 3 2019

Empire Live: Juneauites give testimony of proposed changes to water quality regulations

Summary: Many of the questions posed to DEC were concerned with the state’s stewardship of the environment. All of the comments came from people who opposed the revisions and a majority of the speakers came from professional organizations or advocacy groups.

DEC staff maintained that changes to the state law were bringing Alaska in line with federal regulation and gave the state power to be able to guide applicants for variances. Critics say the changes will endanger the state’s water and publi