Last Thursday world-renowned conservationist J. Michael Fay came to Seattle at our invitation to talk about some of the emerging mining threats to the remote northwestern corner of British Columbia. The area was mostly untouched by human development until the past several years until an enormous number of large-scale mining projects, driven by rising gold prices, began to emerge on this pristine landscape. Mike described the region as one of the largest emerging mining complexes anywhere on Earth, which lies directly upstream from his cabin and some of Alaska’s most important fisheries.

Michael speaks to the crowd at the Seattle event
Credit: Lane Nothman

The talk was not only well attended, but well delivered. Mike used a series of photos and video to help tell the story of how a remote and extremely beautiful region of BC was undergoing massive industrial changes that will likely forever scar this once-pristine landscape.

Rather than tell his story on his behalf, we’ll let you hear it directly from Mike himself. He was interviewed Saturday morning on the ever-hip Seattle radio station KEXP. Watch the video below of his live interview: