Calista Land & Natural Resource Department Presents
Storyknife, September/October 2025 edition
Over the past three years, the village of Marshall was the epicenter of a regional ‘gravel rush’ generating millions in payroll for Calista Shareholders who worked on construction projects in four Lower Yukon villages.
These projects have ended, but Marshall’s new Pilcher Mountain quarry, owned by Calista and operated by Brice Inc., a Calista Brice subsidiary, is ready to supply high-quality rock for western Alaska construction projects for decades to come.
“I applaud those who planned the quarry,” said Calista Unit 10 Director Nick P. Andrew, Jr., who represents Marshall, Andreafski, Ohogamiut, Pilot Station and Russian Mission.
It took patience, research and planning over two decades for Calista, and partnership with surface landowner Maserculiq, Inc., to develop this new source of gravel for western Alaska. Building and operating the quarry aligns with our corporation’s strategic goals for in-region economic development, putting Shareholders to work, and minimally impacting the environment, said Andrew, a lifetime resident of Marshall.
Community Impacts
Calista staff traveled to Marshall in June and asked Calista Shareholders—including Brice employees, local residents and leaders—how the quarry impacted their community.
Nicholas Fitka, Jr. is a former commercial fisherman who joined the Marshall Traditional Council last summer. In his current role as Tribal vice president and interim administrator, Fitka saw how the project boosted local wages and enabled community members to purchase new snowmachines, outboard motors and four wheelers.
“Right now, Brice is pretty much the biggest employer here in Marshall,” Fitka said in June. “They helped out a bunch of people and when they leave, it’s going to be hard [for local people] to find work unless they travel.”
Calista Shareholder Andrea Shorty’s husband, John, is an example of a Marshall resident who received on-the-job training from Brice qualifying him to work elsewhere in Alaska. This year, he worked as a driller for Brice in Kodiak, returning to Marshall for a break in June.
“He said he really likes it,” Shorty said, adding “My three older ones, they are looking to my husband now. They see how he works. I’m happy how [Brice] came out here to inspire the younger generation.”
Like any other project of its kind, there are some mixed feelings about the quarry.
What upset Fitka, the Tribe’s vice president, was the tree clearing needed for a new barge landing site—it was hard for him to see that specific area developed. However, that was his only complaint. Brice was a good neighbor, he says, noting that workers helped fix washouts along local roads and provided material to stabilize house pads.
By The Numbers
The payroll for individuals who worked on projects associated with Pilcher Mountain quarry since 2023 has reached nearly $21 million.
These projects—which include the new Emmonak port—employed over 228 craft employees, who were largely Alaska Native and/or Calista Shareholders, according to Brice Inc.
“It’s opportunities we hardly ever see in Marshall, especially three years in a row,” said Robert Owletuck, a Calista Shareholder raising five children in Marshall.
Owletuck is one of 18 community members who gained a commercial driver’s license through Brice Inc. He worked for three summers in Marshall as a truck driver.
“Our subsistence is almost gone, all this work is putting food on the table and paying our bills,” he said.
Owletuck added that he looks forward to more work at the quarry in the future, “making good quality rock for everybody.”
Beautiful Mountain, Beautiful Rock
Calista began evaluating a quarry on its subsurface land at Pilcher Mountain decades ago. Mining began in 2023, when Brice Inc. won a competitive bid to repair the St. Mary’s airport. Overall, Brice produced 400,000 tons of rock from Marshall over the last three years.
Pilcher Mountain is a beloved landmark for lower Yukon communities, and some people were concerned that developing a quarry would “blow it up,” said Andrea Shorty, a former housekeeper for Brice in Marshall.
After three years of quarrying, the mountain remains beautiful. “People see how it is, and they are like, ‘Oh, they just put a little dent in it,’” Shorty said.
Meanwhile, the mountain has helped other communities. “People say Marshall has the prettiest rock. Every time we land in St. Mary’s, I don’t know how to explain it. They say it’s like a bluish color, but in the sunlight, it is shiny,” Shorty said.
She isn’t the only one who received compliments about Pilcher Mountain rock, which has volcanic origins and is often described as green versus blue. People in Russian Mission and St. Mary’s said it made their airports look nice.
“This [compliment] was coming from Elders,” said Wassilie Pitka, a Calista Shareholder who worked as an operator and a laborer for Brice for the past three years.
“Everybody benefited [in some way] from this,” Pitka said. “I would like to thank Calista and Brice for bringing the work here.”
