RGK & Bobby Kennedy, Jr. Say 'NO' to Pebble Mine in Special NRDC Event

With the oil spill disaster in the Gulf ongoing, one of the few remaining U.S. fisheries will be wiped away for decades, poisoned by the residue of petrochemical contaminants that will remain in the rocks, shellfish, bottom feeders and their predators for generations! My 12-years of work to protect Southwest Alaska and the salmon fishery of Bristol Bay are all the more pertinent now. Here is the latest...

Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum

The coalition of groups working together to protect the salmon fishery of Bristol Bay and to stop the Pebble mine continues to grow. Earlier this year, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) declared Bristol Bay one of their Biogem Campaign targets and brought their large national membership into the debate.

To better inform their Los Angeles membership, NRDC is hosting a special night at the Laemmle theater complex in Santa Monica, Tuesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. Bobby Andrew, a Native Alaskan tribal spokesperson will discuss the historic use of the bay and Southwest by Native cultures and the current opposition among the villages to the development of the Pebble mine. Then I will do a keynote slideshow / lecture that will reveal Southwest to most of the viewers for the first time and take them through the habitat from the summits of the ranges to the spawning beds at the bottoms of the streams and rivers. There will be several specific images of the actual mine site, and a comprehensive view of all the national parks, state parks and national wildlife refuges. Bobby Kennedy, Jr. will close the evening offering commentary as to why we need to be engaged in this distant but important struggle to keep industrial development out of these wild lands.

I have worked with NRDC since the early '80's and am very excited to have the power of their membership onboard. We, as a people, are weighing the value of an established renewable resource industry (the fishery), against the impact of an extraction industry (the Pebble mine). As this is the last great fishery on the planet, I hope we will have the foresight to understand the complete system that is already in-place and operating so well. As a whole, we have done very badly protecting our other coastal fishery resources (witness the current oil spill in the Gulf coast fisheries that will impact it for the rest of our lifetimes). Southwest/Bristol Bay is a chance to proceed in a more enlightened way for the long-term good of the fish and the other species they sustain... including us! Trading this clean food resource for an eventual taxpayer subsidized Superfund toxic clean-up site just to further the wealth accumulation of international gold speculators would be a travesty.

Protest the construction of the Pebble mine in the headwaters of the Bristol Bay fishery

#rgk

Friday Nights, G2, Abbott Kinney, Food Trucks - Oh Yeah!

Photograph compliments of LA Weekly

Summer is coming and the nights are warm with the twilights lingering until 9pm at the beach in Venice. If you have not visited this weekend scene, you need to. On Friday night, Abbott Kinney Blvd. throws a party, so to speak. With many good restaurants, clothing shops, pharmacies and galleries in place, the nightlife began to build over the last few years. Now, the infamous cruising food trucks all line up in the parking lot of the Brigg bar. In one block you have 10 or 12 great eateries, one of the areas most historic bars, one of the best pharmacies, and the spectacular G2 Gallery that puts up amazing shows and gives their profits to environmental causes. How good is that. Myself, Florian Schulz, Frans Lanting, Jack Dykinga, and Michelle Westmoreland, all Fellow iLCP* photographers have work up at G2 presently, ...and Florian's opening last Friday was a terrific event that actually had to bring out the 'velvet rope' because so many people were in attendance.

#rgk


* International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP)

Bravo Florian Schulz!

Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum

Kudos to my friend, Fellow iLCP photographer, Florian Schulz, for the great show about the Arctic that he currently has up at The G2 Gallery on Abbott Kinney Blvd. in Venice, CA.

Kudos also to Patagonia and Earthjustice for supporting his work and circulating this exhibit.

It is important that we understand the Arctic more completely before we do something irreversible to the habitat such as Big Oil has just done to the Gulf states. In fact, plans for exploratory oil drilling -- ala the Deepwater Horizon rig -- continue to move forward, and could begin as early as July in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort and Chukchi seas.

The window for public comment on where we will drill for new oil fields in the future is during the next three weeks.

Let YOUR congressmen and Senators know you think it is a bad idea to risk the Arctic, one of the richest ecosystems on the planet, until the industrial exploiters can PROVE they can respond.

Also, Please Call a "Time Out" on Arctic Oil and Gas Activities via Earthjustice.


#rgk

The G2 Gallery: Robert Glenn Ketchum & Florian Schulz solo exhibits

"Navigating the Dark Wood of Error", Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum

If you find yourself in Los Angeles between May 4 - June 20, please stop by The G2 Gallery in Venice, CA to see my small solo exhibition, "Robert Glenn Ketchum: A Life in Photography".

In addition, my good friend and fellow International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) photographer, Florian Schulz, will also be exhibiting at The G2 Gallery, "Florian Schulz: Visions of the Arctic" during the same time, May 4 - June 20, 2010. Florian, I wish you the best of luck and hope to see you there!

The G2 Gallery is wonderful in that they donate all proceeds from art sales to environmental causes!

The G2 Gallery has generously given their studio space for my show in honor of American Photo magazine (AP) designating me as the first conservation photographer ever to receive the Master Series distinction.

It is my intention to have the show focus on the battle to save Bristol Bay and STOP THE PEBBLE MINE, so many of the photographs will be of that part of Southwest Alaska.

In addition, I will be showing one of my newer digital pieces, "Navigating the Dark Wood of Error".

I look forward to seeing you there!

~RGK

May 4 - June 20, 2010
Solo Exhibit: "Robert Glenn Ketchum: A Life in Photography"
Solo Exhibit: "Florian Schulz: Visions of the Arctic"
The G2 Gallery
1503 Abbot Kinney Road
Venice, CA 90291
+1.310.452.2842
www.theg2gallery.com

#rgk

RGK New Projects In the Works

Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum

Thanks to everyone who has been contacting me with their positive encouragement. As always, it's refreshing and supportive to know so many people are beginning to understand what I have been doing with my lifetime of work, using photography as a tool for conservation advocacy. Many of your questions ask what my current project is, so here is what I hoping to do this summer.

At the moment I am trying to raise funding in order to return to Southwest Alaska. I am hoping to finish work I have been accumulating about Lake Clark National Park and Preserve with the intent of publishing it as my 3rd book in a trilogy of publications intended to protect the habitat and parks of Southwest Alaska and the salmon fishery of Bristol Bay. No book has ever been done about Lake Clark, one of the most beautiful and wild parks in the national park system, so as simply a document of place, such a publication should be well received. More importantly, Lake Clark is adjacent the proposed Pebble mine, projected to be the largest open-pit copper and cyanide gold-leach mine in the world if completed. Such development would impact Lake Clark National Park in numerous ways and also affect nearby Katmai National Park and Lake Iliamna, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. Obviously, this book is then planned for use as an advocacy tool, and it would join my two previous publications in effort to prevent this project that will make a Canadian mining company and international gold speculators wealthy while leaving American taxpayers stuck with clean-up costs that are likely to be astronomical.

What will make this summer's visit more unique than my previous adventures is that the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) is hoping to send a film crew with me. Because of my recent American Photo magazine article naming me 5th in their Master Series, iLCP recognizes an opportunity, not only to document the "master" in action (rather like following Ansel Adams on a shoot), but such a film will inspire new generations of photographers to be pro-active with their work, and will also help to further the credibility and visibility of iLCP.

Over the last 12-years, I have been part of a growing partnership of fishermen, hunters, recreational tourists, commercial fishing companies, and Native corporations and villages that want to see Southwest and Bristol Bay maintained for the $1-billion+ renewable resource industry that it now generates in the form of fishing, and to keep it from being degraded by completely inappropriate industrial extraction that could very well wipe out the fishery, and considerable impair several significant national and state parks and reserves.
"Rivers of Life: Southwest Alaska, The Last Great Salmon Fishery", and "Wood-Tikchik: Alaska’s Largest State Park" as well as the traveling exhibit I have been circulating through museums have helped Southwest/Bristol Bay gain visibility within Congress and the public. Significantly, the Department of the Interior has recently cancelled oil and gas leases let in Bristol Bay during the previous administration, recognizing the value of the minor energy reservoirs there, and the fact their worth is trumped by the renewable, long-term value of the fishery. In recognition of the focus that our work has generated, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar recently gave me and the others in this coalition, the 2010 'Partners in Conservation Award'.
Having accomplished that, it now allows us all to turn our attention to the threatened development of the Pebble mine. So please join me in my quest to STOP PEBBLE MINE in any way that you are able, whether it be through signing petitions, or by spreading the word of the work I'm doing, or by donating funds.

And thank you. For everything.

Donate Money for my Lake Clark book & documentary project in Southwest Alaska

#rgk

In Memory of Harriet Burgess

"The land we save is our legacy. It’s what we give to our children" ~Harriet Burgess
Founder and President, American Land Conservancy

When Harriet recruited me to sit on her founding Board of Counselors, I replied that I did not have money to give so perhaps I was the wrong choice. She said she wanted my media advice, my passion and my pictures and that would be enough, so I said yes.

Then, without missing a beat, she said can you take some pictures of this place I might be able to rescue in Big Sur, called Limekiln Creek. At that moment an interesting circle in my life was completed. In my college years, I had what the hippies described as a "cosmic flash" while camping in Limekiln, and by my experience there determined to dedicate my photography to purposeful conservation issues. I spent many subsequent camping trips there teaching myself how to move from my experimental darkroom photography style to my new embrace of depicting the landscape. Limekiln was a difficult subject, but a great teacher. I told Harriet that I already had some old pictures if she wanted them. She did, and she had me print 6 of them immediately so that she could take them to a meeting with a possible funding source that would help with the purchase and protection of the Limekiln property.

I got them to her, she took them and showed. The fund source gave her some seed money on the condition that they could keep the prints. Then, some months later, the purchase was completed and ALC transferred Limekiln into the California State Park system. It is hard to move more quickly than that, and Harriet was a master of timing and finesse.

She always saw the "bigger" picture and knew how to put the players together to make things happen. I will miss you, my love! God, look at that GREAT smile!

To remember Harriet Burgess with your comments, click here

To read more about Harriet Burgess, click here

#rgk

The Pacific Salmon Stronghold Conservation Act

Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum

Most of you know by now that I have spent the last 12-years trying to introduce the public to the magnificent, unspoiled habitat and park system of Southwest Alaska and to protect the largest commercial salmon fishery in the history of the world that it supports, Bristol Bay. My two books, "Rivers of Life: Southwest Alaska, The Last Great Salmon Fishery", "Wood-Tikchik: Alaska’s Largest State Park", and the national traveling exhibit I created to accompany them have been circulating in one form or another since 2001.

The immediate threats at the time were ill-advised oil and gas exploration leases offered by the Bush administration directly in the heart of the fishery, and the Pebble mine, proposed by a Canadian mining group and a consortium of international gold speculators that includes Mitsubishi. If built as proposed, the Pebble would be the largest open-pit, cyanide gold-leach mine in the history of the world, constructed in the headwaters of the two most productive salmon rivers in Southwest.

I am happy to report that since Obama has taken office, the oil/gas leases in Bristol Bay have been withdrawn. Many of us who have been building this campaign have recently been given the Partnerships in Conservation Award by Secretary Ken Salazar and the Department of the Interior.

Hoping to keep the momentum going, on Wednesday, April 21, I was part of a coalition that held a press conference in H-137 on Capitol Hill, and introduced The Pacific Salmon Stronghold Conservation Act. The bill is a result of a tremendous network of individuals, institutions and politicians, organized by the Wild Salmon Center. I spoke that evening as a Founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), and I was joined on the podium by Guido Rahr, President of the Wild Salmon Center, and California Congressman, Mike Thompson. There are already more than 70 bi-partisan co-signers of this legislation, so if you are interested and want to protect the last great wild salmon populations on earth, write to your legislators and ask them to become a co-sponsors of the Pacific Salmon Stronghold Conservation Act.

Unfortunately, the plans for the Pebble mine are still alive and well. If you are interested in action directed at stopping the mine, my website / blog / twitter / facebook sites will provide you with many links where you can take further action. Please say 'NO TO THE PEBBLE'. I, for one, see no advantage in trading a one-billion-dollar established industry that provides a clean, healthy food resource for Americans and thousands of jobs for a toxic mine that Canadians and gold speculators will profit from, leaving U.S. taxpayers stuck with the cost of cleaning up the Superfund site that will be left when the mine expires.

#rgk

Venice Art Walk & Auctions, May 22-23, 2010

"Confused by Butterflies," Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum

Plan to attend the Venice Art Walk & Auctions, May 22-23, 2010. It's the greatest art festival in Los Angeles, hands-down. All major artists in L.A. are there, many of whom exhibit new work. It's better than going to a museum in that you can see & bid on all the magnificent art in a relaxed, casual environment!

Be sure to check out my new digital piece, "Confused by Butterflies" which will be available for auction. All proceeds benefit the Venice Family Clinic, a very worthy establishment that I've proudly supported for over 25-years!

Let's hope for sunny weather so we can all enjoy the days & the art even more!

Hope to see you there.

#RGK

May 22-23, 2010
Charity Auction: "Confused by Butterflies"
Venice Art Walk & Auctions
Art & Architecture Tours, May 22-23
Venice Art Walk & Auctions, May 23
Westminster School
1010 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
+1.310.392.9255 general inquiries

#rgk

5/4-6/20 - G2 Gallery Exhibit: "RGK: A Life in Photography"

"Navigating the Dark Wood of Error", Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum

If you find yourself in Los Angeles between May 4 - June 20, please stop by G2 Gallery in Venice to see my small solo exhibition, "Robert Glenn Ketchum: A Life in Photography".

The G2 Gallery is wonderful in that they donate all proceeds from art sales to environmental causes!

The G2 Gallery has generously given their studio space for my show in honor of American Photo magazine (AP) designating me as the first conservation photographer ever to receive the Master Series distinction.

It is my intention to have the show focus on the battle to save Bristol Bay and STOP THE PEBBLE MINE, so many of the photographs will be of that part of Southwest Alaska.

In addition, I will be showing one of my newer digital pieces, "Navigating the Dark Wood of Error".

I hope to see you there!

~RGK

May 4 - June 20, 2010
Solo Exhibit: "Robert Glenn Ketchum: A Life in Photography"
G2 Gallery
1503 Abbot Kinney Road
Venice, CA 90291
+1.310.452.2842
www.theg2gallery.com

#rgk

'40 Greatest Nature Photographs of All Time' silent auction

'40 Greatest Nature Photographs of All Time' silent auction www.ABidtoSavetheEarth.org, thru May 6. Bid on my pic http://tinyurl.com/252fsdv

Happy 40th Earth Day! You're why Tongass old-growth stands, & whales are especially happy in Laguna San Ignacio. http://tinyurl.com/22qb797

Photograph © Robert Glenn Ketchum

I am humbled to announce that American Photo (AP) has honored me as the first conservation photographer ever to receive the Master Series distinction.

In twenty years of publishing, American Photo has only designated four other photographers with the Master Series feature. I would like to thank AP, not only for honoring me as the fifth, but by extension also honoring the community I represent, those of us who have found their visual library drawn from nature.

My work was always my personal response as an artist to the real world circumstances that concerned me. I have understood from the earliest days of my career that we all exist because our habitat supports us, so I chose to use my work in support of that habitat.

All I have accomplished has been through an amazing network of associates whom I cannot thank enough for informing, advising, and correcting me. Whatever understanding of the issues my pictures and books contain, it is due to scientists and authors who befriended me and helped me to understand and see my subjects in more complete ways.

The International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) now exists to further the relationships between images and science in the hopes that we can help to communicate the complex environmental issues confronting us all in ways that are credible and clear. Among this distinguished group of iLCP friends and Fellows are what I believe to be some of the most significant artists of our time. These photographers have been the public's witness to what is quite literally a changing world, not just the ever-changing parade of pop culture.

Thank you AP for acknowledging us all. And, thank you to my friends and fans that understood what I was doing and have supported me through 40-years of work.

You are part of the reason Tongass old-growth stands, and the whales are especially happy in Laguna San Ignacio. Now if we can just prevent development of the Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska and preserve the last and largest salmon fishery in the world, Bristol Bay!

Stick with me, the ride is not over.

Congressional briefing & short film premier: "Salmon Stronghold conservation across the North Pacific"

Just left Congressional briefing & short film premier here at the Capital Building in Washington, D.C.

A good evening!

Short film premiere and Congressional briefing:
"Salmon Stronghold conservation across the North Pacific"
With special remarks from Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-1st), Valdis Mezainis (Director of U.S. Forest Service International Programs), Robert Glenn Ketchum (iLCP fellow), and Guido Rahr (President of Wild Salmon Center).
Capital Building, Washington D.C.

Top 10 Ways to Celebrate National Parks Week

Top 10 Things You Can Do to Celebrate National Parks Week 2010 (April 17-25) http://tinyurl.com/y57c3le

London Financial Times, Earth Day 2010