Palin's Environmental Legacy

VP candidate Sarah Palin recently commented on the love and respect she and her fellow Alaskans have for the environment, but locals say that in her time as mayor she 'fouled her own nest.'

1 minute read

September 23, 2008, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


'Sarah,' a recent biography of Palin by Kaylene Johnson, features a photo of a beaming Palin, sitting in a rowboat on Lake Lucille clutching a fishing rod. But, according to local fishermen, the Republican vice-presidential candidate would have to be very lucky to reel in something edible.

The Alaska Fish and Game Department dutifully stocks the lake with coho salmon and rainbow trout each year -- but the fish don't last long.

Fishing on the lake 'was tough,' reported Alaska fishing guide Carlyle Telford on his Web site when he tried his luck on Lake Lucille last year, 'because the vegetation is decaying and floating. When you retrieve every cast, the fly comes back with crud on it.'"

"Wasilla, where Palin grew up and still resides, sprawls between two lakes -- Lucille and Wasilla Lake. Cottonwood Creek, which flows in and out of Wasilla Lake, has also been labeled "impaired" by state environmental officials, after foam was detected on the water surface and subsequent testing found excessive concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria."

Monday, September 22, 2008 in Salon.com

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