An Alaskan community is split on a plan to create a gold mine in the middle of a national park amid environmental concerns.
The federal government granted Alaska Native-owned Cook Inlet Region Inc. the rights to Johnson Tract, a nearly 21,000-acre property surrounded by Lake Clark National Park, in the 1970s as part of a land exchange agreement. Mining company Contango Silver & Gold now has a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region and plans to create a mine on the mineral-rich Johnson Tract.
