Last week, the Interior Department rejected a proposed 221-mile road that would run across federal land to connect mineral mining areas in the state. The department said the decision would help protect the state’s subsistence economy and preserve a way of life for Alaska Native communities.
On June 26, the Department of the Interior released a report of decision for the Ambler Road project, choosing a no-action plan from the final supplemental environmental impact statement released two months earlier.
“The decision means that the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) will not have right-of-way over BLM-managed lands,” the decision states, based on a Bureau of Land Management analysis that found the road “would have required more than 3,000 stream crossings and would have impacted endangered wildlife populations, including shellfish and the already declining Western Arctic caribou herd, which are critical food sources for native communities.”
The analysis also found that the road would have reduced the abundance, availability and access to livelihoods, according to the Interior Department press release. “Additionally, the analysis showed that irreversible impacts to the permafrost would make it unlikely that the road could be repaired, and it is reasonably foreseeable that the industrial road would be used by the public, which would increase impacts to the environment and communities.”
In addition, the Bureau of Land Management today released a final environmental impact statement analyzing the proposed repeal of existing withdrawals on 28 million acres of public lands it manages in Alaska. The repeal would have opened the acres to resource extraction, including mining and drilling, and removed federal priority for livelihoods. The Final Impact Statement ultimately upheld current land protections, reflecting the “overwhelming support” BLM heard during the public comment period last winter from Alaska Native, hunting and fishing communities who said they depend on the withdrawals to expand hunting opportunities for protect their own livelihood.
Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), House of Representatives Committee Member on Natural Resources, said in a statement today that the final decision on Ambler Road reflects the voices of Alaska’s many Native communities who take a strong stand took action against the threatened destruction of their country.
“Ambler Road would have decimated the fragile Arctic ecology and wildlife that many communities depend on for their livelihoods — all for a speculative, risky mining interest,” the representative said. “I am grateful to the Biden administration for finalizing this decision and putting the well-being of indigenous communities above corporate greed.”
The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition, a group of Native women from Alaska’s Kuskokwim Delta, released a statement honoring today’s decision.
“Today’s decision by the Biden administration is an important step toward a future of wild salmon, healthy people, and healthy lands and waters,” said Anaan’arar Sophie Swope, executive director of Mother Kuskokwim. She added that she looks forward to additional protections on D1 lands, including in her own Yukon-Kuskokwim region. “These protections will ensure that future generations can live safely with and on the land, using our customary and traditional knowledge.”
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