Heidi Kritz
Dillingham, AK
Fueling a decade-long fight to protect Bristol Bay
For nearly half her life, Heidi Kritz has been working to protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine project. The proposed copper and gold mining project threatens the bay, which is the largest salmon fishery in the world and is critical to the local economy, ecological stability, and native peoples way of life.
Kritz and her community have fought tirelessly against the project both within Alaska and the Lower 48 states. She has helped organize rallies, worked on a massive letter writing campaign against the mine project that ultimately gathered more than 6,000 voices, and has helped mobilize a new generation of regional activists by working with high school students in tribal schools. Kritz’s leadership has added momentum to a decade-long fight to protect the Bristol Bay watershed, and she plans keep up the fight to defend the land and her home.