The Northwest Arctic Subsistence Regional Advisory Council voted 4-3 on Oct. 17, to oppose the Ambler Road project. The three dissenting members said they needed to consult with their home communities before they could oppose the project.
The Bureau of Land Management is the federal agency overseeing permitting for the controversial 200-mile road, which would stretch west from the Dalton Highway to gain access to a region speculated to have high concentrations of copper and other metals.
Geoff Beyersdorf, the district manager at BLM, gave an update on the permitting process at the subsistence meeting. He said his agency took almost 19,000 public comments and worked with a consulting company to prepare the draft of a supplemental environmental impact statement to address deficiencies with previous permitting documents.
In 2020, United States District Court Judge Sharon Gleason found that the project’s initial impact statement lacked adequate tribal consultation and provided insufficient analysis of subsistence impacts.
A key concern from residents is whether the road could eventually allow public access from the Dalton Highway.
“If public funds are used for this road, how long will it take to make it public,” asked council member Elmer Armstrong Jr. of Noorvik.
Beyersdorf said he expected that the road would be private.
“There are no public funds to my knowledge that are associated with this, and the intent is not to make it a public road from the application we've received,” he said.
Opponents of the project cite the Dalton Highway, which was initially a private industrial road but opened to the public in the early 90s, despite opposition from the North Slope Borough and Tanana Chiefs Conference.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state-owned development corporation, would be the primary financier of the project. The draft environmental assessment states that AIDEA plans to issue bonds to finance construction and collect toll fees from industry to pay for the road. Beyersdorf said AIDEA has applied for a 50-year right-of-way for a private road.
Despite this assurance, during the second day of meetings, council member Bobby Schaeffer moved to “adamantly oppose” the Ambler Road project.
Council Chair Thomas Baker said it was not the right time.
“I don't feel that we should be entertaining this motion until the entire council is able to review everything,” he said. “I don't feel it's in the best interest of our people to rush decisions on any matter.”
Schaeffer pushed back and encouraged the subsistence council to take action.
“We're here for protection of subsistence, that's why we're here,” he said. “I really firmly believe that that is in our best interest as a subsistence group, to take a stand.”
The council voted 4-3 to oppose the project. After the vote, Kotzebue resident Karmen Schaeffer Monigold praised the council for their opposition.
“Every one of you have a very powerful position in protecting subsistence, for not only ourselves, but for our future generations,” Monigold said. “I want to take my grandkids out. And maybe I'll have a little girl that wants to go hunting with me. Maybe I'll have pink snow machines running behind me.”
Monigold said the Ambler Road and the mining projects it could usher in would hurt subsistence.
“If the Ambler road goes through, if they open up all these mining lands that they just showed you on this last presentation, we will not have that.” she said. “We're already losing our culture to so many other things.”
The Office of Subsistence Management recommended the regional advisory council write a letter for the office to submit on their behalf, and for members to write individual letters opposing the project.
The BLM triggered a 60-day public comment period after the permit documents for the Ambler Road project were published in the Federal Register. Comments will be taken until Dec. 22.
