Today I'm working on a story about a just-now-completed letter that the Alaska Board of Fisheries is sending to state House and Senate leaders about the Pebble project.

In the letter, the board asks the lawmakers for a comprehensive evaluation of the state’s permitting protections and standards in light of Pebble.

“While the BOF recognizes that no specific permitting plan has yet been proposed for the development and operation of the Pebble Mine, the board is still very concerned about the Pebble Mine development because of its potential magnitude,” the letter states.

The Board of Fisheries decided to send the letter to lawmakers after hearing testimony in December about a proposal to create a fish refuge in the Bristol Bay region that would encompass the Pebble deposit. Proponents of the proposal said that creating a refuge, which can only be done by the Legislature, could mean new statutory protections for the bay’s fisheries. The authors of the proposal include several businessmen involved in Bristol Bay’s sport and commercial fisheries and Native community leaders.

The board decided not to support creating a refuge but agreed unanimously to send the letter requesting legislators to review the state’s permitting process, making it more stringent if necessary.

The board approved a final version of the letter after a series of phone conversations in recent weeks, said BOF executive director Jim Marcotte.

I'll update this post later today.