A group of the state’s staunchest salmon defenders is proposing a ballot initiative that seeks to strengthen legal protections for Alaska’s fish-bearing streams and rivers.

Last week, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued a new Miscellaneous Land Use Permit (MLUP) to the Pebble Limited Partnership, thereby allowing the company to continue using its worksite in Bristol Bay.

The state of Alaska says it has taken hundreds of public comments to heart and will require developers of the stalled Pebble mine to do extensive cleanup and monitoring this summer — and to commit $2 million to ensure disturbed land is eventually restored.

KENAI, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Board of Fisheries is asking the state Legislature to reconsider the state's fish habitat permitting process.