Coursing through vast reaches of Alaskan tundra, glacial lakes and emerald forests, six major river systems converge along the rim of the Bering Sea to form the crystalline waters of Bristol Bay, the richest wild salmon grounds in the world.

Yet if three global mining giants get their way, this region — one of the last truly wild places in our country — could be destroyed.

Each year, up to 40 million sockeye salmon make the journey from deep ocean waters into Bristol Bay and, from there, upstream to spawn in the inland shallows of their birth. The salmon provide food for brown bears, bald eagles and wolves. And they're the centerpiece of sustenance and culture for native peoples who have lived there for thousands of years.

Here, amid this rich web of life, is where Pebble Limited Partnership (Anglo American, Northern Dynasty Minerals and Rio Tinto) want to dig one of the largest open-pit gold and copper mines in the world.

The Obama administration must put a stop to this exploitative and misguided scheme.

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