Cook Inlet Keeper
Encyclopedia
Cook Inlet Keeper is a non-profit water conservation and ecology organization based in Homer, Alaska
. Their stated goal is "promoting sound public policies that protect fish habitat and water quality; and holding individuals, industry and agencies accountable for habitat, water quality and human health in the Cook Inlet watershed. " The organization was founded in 1994 with funds from a legal settlement involving oil companies that extracted resources from Cook Inlet
. They are part of the Waterkeeper Alliance
. They were involved in pressuring the National Marine Fisheries Service
to list the Cook Inlet population of Beluga Whales as endangered. They have also been active in opposing open-pit mining in the Cook Inlet area. They also manage a water quality laboratory in Homer that monitors 240 sites around Cook Inlet. In 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke in support of their efforts at the groups ten year anniversary celebration. He stated that "The fish in that inlet belongs to the people. Everybody has a right to use them. Nobody has a right to use them in a way that will diminish or injure their use and enjoyment by others."
Homer, Alaska
Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road"...
. Their stated goal is "promoting sound public policies that protect fish habitat and water quality; and holding individuals, industry and agencies accountable for habitat, water quality and human health in the Cook Inlet watershed. " The organization was founded in 1994 with funds from a legal settlement involving oil companies that extracted resources from Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
. They are part of the Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance is an environmental organization founded in 1999, responding to a growing movement of organizations with the name Riverkeeper, Baykeeper, Soundkeeper, and other related "keeper" names, of which there are over 150 around the globe...
. They were involved in pressuring the National Marine Fisheries Service
National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine resources and their habitat within the...
to list the Cook Inlet population of Beluga Whales as endangered. They have also been active in opposing open-pit mining in the Cook Inlet area. They also manage a water quality laboratory in Homer that monitors 240 sites around Cook Inlet. In 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke in support of their efforts at the groups ten year anniversary celebration. He stated that "The fish in that inlet belongs to the people. Everybody has a right to use them. Nobody has a right to use them in a way that will diminish or injure their use and enjoyment by others."