Threat To Our Wild Lands Is Here

The Tangle Lakes country contains some of the most accessible wild lands in Alaska. Its wide, open tundra meadows, glacial lakes and ridges are favorite destinations for Alaskans and visitors. Snow machining, berry picking, birding, hunting, fishing, hiking, climbing, and paddling are just some of the ways people enjoy and benefit from the land and its biological resources.

This place of unique beauty, natural resource and cultural artifacts is currently being explored for nickel and platinum. Nevada Star Resources, a small exploration company located in Canada, quietly staked over 269 square miles of mining claims. These claims surround the Tangle Lakes, and include the Amphitheatre Mountains, Landmark Gap,
14-Mile Lake, and Rainbow Mountain – all favorite destinations for hikers, hunters, fishers, climbers and mountaineers.

In 2003, Nevada Star angered Alaskans who had been hiking and climbing in the Rainbow Mountain/Canwell Glacier area for decades when it bulldozed a road for its drilling and trenching program. A historic foot-trail was obliterated by the new road, and previously undisturbed alpine meadows were torn up by trenches and spur roads. Despite outcry from the public, Nevada Star returned in 2004, and bulldozed in additional roads and drill pads.

In addition to Nevada Star, Anglo American Exploration Canada is poised to begin a winter drilling program on claims near Tangle Lakes and Fish Lake, north of the Amphitheatres. Through an agreement with Nevada Star, Anglo will take over exploration of about half of the claim block controlled by Nevada Star.

Thus, Tangle Lakes and the surrounding country is threatened by the sights, sounds and disturbances of mineral exploration, and possible future hardrock mining. If an economic ore body is found, the resulting mine would scar this landscape, limit public access and infringe upon wildlife and those who use these wild lands for recreation and subsistence. Water and air pollution are also huge concerns at any major mine site.