Place:Iliamna, Lake and Peninsula, Alaska, United States

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Iliamna (Dena'ina: ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 108 at the 2020 census, slightly down from 109 in 2010.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Iliamna was originally the name of an Athabaskan village at the point where the Iliamna River flows into Iliamna Lake, about east of present-day Iliamna. That site is now called Old Iliamna (Dena'ina: Nuch'ak'dalitnu’). In 1935, the residents of Old Iliamna moved to the present-day location.

The first sport fishing lodge in Iliamna was built in the 1930s, and the second was built in the 1950s. Many more were built later in the 20th century. Iliamna's economy has two main elements: subsistence fishing and hunting and sport fishing lodges. Year-round residents largely pursue subsistence activities, while summer workers from other areas work in the lodges.

Around 1913, Herman Gartelmann, Jack Kinney, and Ed Ahola built a roadhouse here, taking advantage of air travel through Lake Clark Pass. Jack and Ed were from Old Iliamna village. Frederick Roehl purchased the roadhouse around 1917, and when he died in 1923, Hans Seversen took over and the facility became known as Seversen's Roadhouse. He started hosting big game hunters in 1921 and the first sport fishermen in 1937. Martin Seversen ran the operation from 1946 and put up a new building. Mary Seversen Clark sold the operation in 1956.

Iliamna faces the prospect of developing into a mining town, as several multi-national companies plan to develop the area northwest of the village into one of North America's largest gold-copper-molybdenum mines. The first company to submit plans to the State of Alaska is Northern Dynasty Minerals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson. The Lake and Peninsula Borough, the region's governing body, passed a strong resolution in support of the mine's development, but the majority of the surrounding villages adamantly oppose it. Two non-profit organizations are leading the fight against open-pit mining in the Bristol Bay watershed - the Bristol Bay Alliance and the Renewable Resources Coalition. A study concluded in 2006 indicated the majority of Alaskans were opposed to the development.

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