Anchorage Daily News

The companies exploring the massive Pebble copper and gold prospect in Southwest Alaska announced today they are creating a $5 million endowment for fisheries and economic development in the region.

The Pebble Fund for Sustainable Bristol Bay Fisheries and Communities will be run by an advisory board comprised of people from the Bristol Bay region, according to the mining companies, Anglo American and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

The companies plan to host a workshop for regional community leaders, fishery organizations and other groups in March, where the participants will hash out details on creating the advisory board, setting grant criteria and other tasks related to the fund.

"We ultimately won't select who is on the board," said Sean Magee, spokesman for the Pebble Partnership, the firm set up by the two companies last year to explore the Pebble deposit. Their possible mine has aroused state and national controversy, due to its location at the headwaters of two of the five major rivers that feed Bristol Bay's salmon fisheries.

Magee said the partnership's intent for the new fund includes:

• Supporting new or existing ideas truly conceived by the communities, rather than by outsiders or the fund's advisory board.

• Grants to enhance Bristol Bay fisheries or other projects to improve social and economic independence for Bristol Bay communities.

Distributions from the fund will be managed by the Anchorage-based Alaska Community Foundation, and grants from the fund cannot be used for advocacy or lobbying, for or against Pebble, Magee said.

Before releasing money for grants, "We will do the due diligence to make sure it's a charitable purpose, not a private benefit to anyone involved in the project ... or lobbying," said Carol Simonetti, president of the foundation.

The foundation also distributes funds to another Bristol Bay organization, Nunamta Alukestai, a coalition of Native village corporations that opposes Pebble. The $389,852 grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is designated for wild salmon protection efforts.

Carol Simonetti, president of the community foundation, said her board's policy committee has decided that it can work with groups that have opposing views.

"We have 157 different funds. They have views all over the map," she said.

Bobby Andrew, a director of Nunamta Alukestai, said sharing a funding source with Pebble's developers "is kind of ticklish" and he's unsure what it means for the future.

In addition, Andrew said he is concerned about whether an influx of money from the Pebble Partnership into the Bristol Bay region will put pressure on its residents to stop speaking out about the possible mine.

"This is one way for a big company to buy silence," Andrew said.

Magee said the Pebble Partnership is committed to investing in the communities it operates in, and he doesn't believe the company will be successful if they don't invest.

"It's really about living by our principles as a company," he said.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

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