Local West Susitna-Area Groups Speak Out Against “Threat To Alaska’s Public Lands” With Another Road Project

The following press release is courtesy of a coalition of local businesses, tribal interests and conservation organizations:

The real “emergency” in the West Su is the threat to Alaska’s public lands

AIDEA, Army Corps rushing through permitting for industrial road, cutting Alaskans out of the process

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 6, 2026

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA —West Susitna business leaders, Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, and Defend the West Su slammed the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and the Army Corps of Engineers’ recently announced plan to speed through permitting for AIDEA’s portion of the more than 100+ mile, state-funded West Susitna Industrial Access Road. Rushing through permitting for the road will cut Alaskans out of decisions around our public lands, waste tens of millions of Alaskan and U.S. federal taxpayer dollars, if not more, and could forever negatively impact outdoor-based economies, salmon habitat, and hunting and fishing opportunities in the West Susitna region — all for a false “emergency” to get to non-Alaskan and foreign-owned gold mining claims. The comment period for the road is only three weeks, ending Oct. 13.

“The real emergency is the failed public process — and the fact that AIDEA is pushing for rushed decisions, here and in other locations, that would privatize and industrialize Alaska’s public lands,” said Defend the West Su spokesperson Emily Anderson. “The only beneficiaries of this road project are foreign gold mining companies who want a handout while Alaskans are struggling with near-record high gas and diesel prices, rising food costs, and neglected public infrastructure. The last thing we need is for AIDEA and the Army Corps to fast-track and fund a road to nowhere instead of investing that money in the things that Alaskans really need.”  

“It is unacceptable to rush through permitting for a 78.5 mile industrial road that would desecrate the ancestral territory of local Tribes,” said Traditional Chief Gary Harrison, Chairman of Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, or Nay’dini’aa Na’ Kayax. “There has been insufficient Tribal consultation regarding this proposed project and no consultation with Chickaloon Village Traditional Council despite multiple requests. This disregards the knowledge Tribes have on the region’s valuable fish and wildlife habitats and cultural heritage. We have grave concerns about what this proposed project would introduce into this region including industrial toxins, habitat destruction, and harmful social determinants of health.”

“The West Susitna Industrial Access Road is a state-funded giveaway to foreign gold mining companies who want Alaskans to subsidize their mining road so they can get rich at our expense. This project would forever change the West Su landscape and damage or drive out dozens of existing, Alaska-based businesses like mine. This “emergency” permitting is just code for destroying our public lands and circumventing the laws that protect fish and wildlife habitat. The real emergency is what we all stand to lose,” said Mike Overcast, owner of Tordrillo Mountain Lodge of Alaska. 

“Alaskans are dealing with failing infrastructure across the state, and AIDEA is wasting money ramming through a road that will harm Alaska’s resources with no meaningful plan as to who ultimately pays to construct, operate, and maintain it,” said FishHound Expeditions owner Adam Cuthriell. “I find myself thinking about all the traffic fatalities I responded to as a firefighter — and how the tens of millions AIDEA has already wasted on an industrial road for foreign mining companies would be way better spent saving lives, filling potholes and fixing infrastructure on roads Alaskans actually use.”

Background:

On Sept. 25, the Army Corps announced it is speeding through AIDEA’s permit application for its 78.5 mile portion of the more than 100-mile West Susitna Industrial Access Road under emergency procedures intended for situations where the normal permitting process could create “unacceptable hazard to life,” significant property loss, or “immediate, unforeseen, and significant economic hardship.”

The Dunleavy Administration, which is pushing the project, has split the road into multiple parts in order to avoid transparency, with the first 22.5 miles under the Alaska Department of Transportation. AIDEA’s portion would start west of the Susitna River and end at foreign and non-Alaskan-owned gold mining claims.

According to the permit materials, construction of this section of the road would involve:

• Up to 700,000 cubic yards of fill – that’s enough to fill more than 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools or about 70,000 dump truckloads;
• Fill in about 65 acres of streams, ponds and wetlands, none of which will receive mitigation;
• 10 new bridges;
• Approximately 138 culverts;
• Over 100 crossings of fish-bearing waterways;
• A 24-foot-wide gravel road;
• Heavy-equipment access and large pullouts along the route.

Defend the West Su is a coalition of citizens, businesses and salmon advocates working to ensure a healthy, sustainable future for the West Susitna.

Nay’dini’aa Na’ Kayax is a federally-recognized Ahtna Dene Tribal Nation, governed by Chickaloon Village Traditional Council. Their ancestral territory includes much of southcentral Alaska including upper Cook Inlet and the Copper River Watershed and overlaps with neighboring Dena’ina Dene and Ahtna Dene Tribal Nations. Chickaloon Village Traditional Council has a responsibility to steward the environment and provide for the safety, good health and welfare of its Tribal citizens and address broad community needs.

FishHound Expeditions is a guide-owned and operated expedition service that for more than a decade has brought anglers from across Alaska and the world to close-by and far-flung Alaska rivers in search of all five species of Alaska salmon, trout, grayling and more.

Tordrillo Mountain Lodge gives visitors an experience beyond their imagination. As a well-known luxury lodge in Alaska, Tordrillo provides winter and summer activities for you and the whole family. In 2025, it was ranked USA Today’s Best Wilderness Lodge in Alaska.