a brown bear fishing for salmon at McNeil Falls, Alaska

Alaska is the best place to see wild bears. A new mine could change that.

The proposed Pebble Mine threatens the wildlife of the Alaska Peninsula, home to the densest brown bear populations on Earth.

A male brown bear, known locally as Braveheart, fishes for salmon at McNeil Falls, home to one of the largest seasonal congregations of bears on Earth. As many as 80 have been seen at one time in this spot.

Photograph by Acacia Johnson, National Geographic
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