Video by @acacia.johnson | On January 31 the EPA moved to conserve Alaska’s Bristol Bay under the Clean Water Act, protecting one of the world’s most productive wild salmon habitats from a proposed open-pit copper and gold mine called Pebble Mine. After decades of controversy over the mine, the decision is considered a win for the environment, for the bay’s salmon fishing industry, and the region’s many Alaska Native communities who depend on salmon for subsistence. It also means the brown bears of the Alaska Peninsula—which gather in the largest numbers seen anywhere on Earth—now have their habitat protected too. To celebrate, here’s some footage from the summer I spent documenting their story for @natgeo in 2019. #alaska #bristolbay #pebblemine #brownbears #environment #conservation #epsilon-alerts