Proposed Mining Project’s Interior Road Plan Gets Plenty Of Opposition

As the push to reinstate Roadless Rule protection for the lush Southeast Alaska Tongass National Forest has increased in recent months, there’s another planned road project that the Trump administration approved in 2020, a 211-mile highway – the Ambler Road Project – a 211-mile route that would connect the Dalton Highway to reach a Western Arctic mining site. The new pavement would also cross the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

Here’s more from the Center for Biological Diversity:

The project, which will build across 2,900 streams and permanently destroy 1,400 acres of wetlands, was illegally pushed through in the final days of the Trump administration. The road threatens one of the greatest annual land migrations left on Earth: the movement of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, which has been in steep decline since 2003. It also threatens the way of life of Indigenous communities, who have lived in the region for thousands of years, by threatening the wild resources they depend on.

And who would benefit from all this destruction? Private mining companies that want to develop a vast, new industrial mining district in one of the planet’s last great wild areas.

Tell federal officials to immediately halt this destruction. 

The mining project’s leading company, Trilogy Metals, released a statement earlier this week about approval and a budget plan that is in excess of $30 million. Here’s a portion of the press release:

According to AIDEA, the AAP is expected to create thousands of new jobs resulting in over $5 billion in wages paid during the lifetime of the project and that the bulk of the work force required for the construction, management and maintenance of the road will be from the local communities. AIDEA is already holding job fairs in the local communities with a commitment to hire locally and benefit local villages.

Tony Giardini, President and CEO of Trilogy, commented, “It has been over 10 years since Trilogy formed its partnership with NANA Regional Corporation, Inc (“NANA”). This partnership has been a very productive and fulfilling experience for all sides. Since that time, Trilogy and now Ambler Metals, have been fully committed to our core values which include respect for the environment, Iñupiaq and Athapaskan subsistence cultures and the safety and wellbeing of all our employees. We have always taken extreme pride on our commitment to our native partners and have always worked hard to earn their trust. We believe our unparalleled track record and strong relationships with our local partners will ultimately prove to be successful in the development of the AAP and the development of the UKMP. Since 2004 to the formation of the Ambler Metals joint venture we invested $147 million into the UKMP. Subsequently, the joint venture invested $3.5 million and $22.6 million in 2020 and 2021, respectfully. Ultimately, there has been approximately $176 million invested in the Ambler Mining District over the years.”

The longtime project has been a lightning rod for criticism for parts off the last decade.