The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission’s Tis Peterman told lawmakers at an April 27 meeting of the Alaska House Fisheries Committee that its most recent petition was submitted “which basically stated that the trans boundary mining will have devastating effects on our way of life and downstream communities.” The Washington D.C.-based IACHR is an arm of the 35-member Organization of American States, which Canada joined in 1990. But Tribes have complained that progress has slowed. And there’s been little to no consultation with Tribes since the state’s political transition following the election of Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Ray Paddock of the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska told lawmakers that Tribes on both sides of the border have taken to doing their own environmental work independent of state and provincial regulators.