Large-scale industrial development is fundamentally incompatible with the subsistence lifestyle enjoyed by inhabitants of the Chilkat Valley for millennia. Locals here still have the privilege of harvesting wild foods that also contribute to a diverse economy underpinned by commercial fishing. Although small-scale placer mining has taken place in this region since the 1800’s, modern hard rock mining would produce large amounts of acid-generating waste rock with much more potential to permanently impair fish habitat and…