Plans for a state funded 210-mile gravel road that would provide access to a proposed Canadian mine in the Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska have been approved by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Park Service.
The record of decision announced on Thursday, July 23, by the three federal agencies comes in the wake of a decision from the Alaska Industrial and Development Export Authority to spend $35 million on the project.
According to the record of decision the road would operate as a private access road ad not be open to the general public. The record of decision also notes that AIDEA “is pursuing construction of an industrial access road consistent with its mission to increase job opportunities and otherwise encourage the state’s economic growth, including development of natural resources”. A complete copy of that record of decision is online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/57323/200091317/20022329/250028533/Ambler%20Road%20Record%20of%20Decision.pdf)
The federal agencies’ record of decision also pits the economic interests of NANA Regional Corp. against those of Doyon, Limited.
Ambler Metals LLC, a subsidiary of Trilogy Metals of Vancouver, British Columbia, formerly known as NovaCopper, supports the road, which would provide a route to transport copper and other metals out of the mining district. Ambler Metals, according to its website, has a long-term cooperative agreement with NANA Regional Corp., signed in 2011, that provides a framework for exploration and development of this high-grade, polymetallic belt. Board members of Trilogy Metals include Willie Hensley, a founding member and former officer of NANA Regional Corp. and one-time leader of the Alaska Native land claims movement. Hensley also serves on the advisory board for the Pebble Limited Partnership.
The road is opposed by environmental entities, including the Northern Alaska Environmental Center in Fairbanks and the National Parks Conservation Association, as well as Doyon Limited, the regional Alaska Native corporation based in Fairbanks, small business owners, hunters, healthcare workers and elders.
“The state’s willingness to spend public funds on a private project that so clearly does not serve the public interest should be alarming to all Alaskans,” said Solaris Gillispie, Clean Water and Mining Manager at the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. “As the communities in the region have stated again and again, the impacts to the region’s water, food, and cultural sovereignty are unacceptable. Alaska’s wealth is in our lands, waters, and people, and we will not allow the state to trade that wealth for multinational companies’ profit.”
The BLM released the final environmental impact statement for the ambler proposal in late March, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then AIDEA, according to the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, The Wilderness Society and the Brooks Range Council, used the cover of the pandemic to move funds to the road project on March 27 despite near-unanimous criticism,
If built, maintenance of the road would continue to require $10 million annually in state funds. and the project may cost over $1 billion, with no guarantee on return on the state’s investment, according to the environmental center.
Aaron Schutt, president and chief executive officer of Doyon Limited, reminded AIDEA in his letter of April 7 that AIDEA has no deal with Doyon, Limited for the portion of the road AIDEA proposes to cross Doyon lands near Evansville. “AIDEA has never even presented a written proposal to Doyon for such access, much less a written proposal or detailed information regarding the ROW (right of way). As such, AIDEA and its contractors do not have permission to enter or cross Doyon lands to conduct any field work in the summer of 2020, or at any time,” Schutt said.
“We find it equally troubling that AIDEA invoked the coronavirus pandemic to justify funding this unauthorized road on an emergency basis. We sincerely hope that AIDEA did not intentionally raise Alaskans’ hopes for jobs that it cannot currently deliver,” Schutt said. “More importantly, we hope AIDEA is not using this public health tragedy to pressure Doyon or other landowners into granting ROWs — particularly after AIDEA failed for years to engage with Doyon. Doyon is as eager as anyone to support a healthy Alaskan economy. But supporting the economy does not mean indiscriminately giving away our land.”
The National Park Conservation Association issued a statement on July 23 saying that while the Interior Department and other federal agencies approved the project, which would cut through Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, that Interior’s final decision on the plan relied on fatally flawed reports and rushed permits.
The road would impact the way of life of Alaska Native communities and would pose an existential threat to the remarkable wild places and wildlife of the region, which supports one of Earth’s longest land migrations, that of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, the conservation association said.
“The road will permanently harm culturally and ecologically important sites, wildlife including the Western Arctic caribou and the wilderness character of Gates of the Arctic,” said Alex Johnson, Alaska program manager for the NPCA. “Leaders at Interior, who are charged with protecting America’s national parks, have authority to set the terms and conditions of the right-of-way, and sadly, appear to be catering to mining interests. This is yet another deeply concerning example of the Trump administration undermining the mission of the National Park Service, to provide a handout to industrial developers.”
