This summer, President Biden built on his record of safeguarding key landscapes in Alaska by restoring protections for 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska and by stopping the controversial industrial Ambler Mining Road. These bold steps protect some of North America’s last intact landscapes while supporting the Alaska Native communities that rely on them.
In August, the Biden administration announced it would maintain protections on 28 million acres of public land—an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania. This action overturned a decision issued in the final days of the Trump administration and will protect against extractive development such as oil and gas drilling and mining. Commonly known as D1 lands, these lands provide critical habitat for bears, caribou, and muskox, and include the Bristol Bay watershed. In its analysis, the Biden administration found that revoking these protections would harm up to 117 Alaska Native communities.
In a separate June announcement, the Biden administration delivered a massive victory for Alaska Native communities and wildlife by blocking the proposed industrial Ambler Mining Road. The proposed 211-mile Ambler Road has faced years of strong opposition from Alaska Native communities—89 tribes and First Nations signing resolutions against the proposal. Originally approved by the Trump administration, President Biden ordered his Interior Department to conduct a new environmental review of the road due to the inadequate analysis performed under President Trump. The all-season gravel road would have cut through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, crossing thousands of streams and 11 major rivers while “significantly and irrevocably” harming the environment, wildlife, and the subsistence hunting traditions of more than 60 Alaska Native communities
Unfortunately, despite widespread national and Tribal opposition, Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska has inserted language into the National Defense Authorization Act to force the approval of the Ambler Road project. This reckless attempt to bypass the Biden administration’s scientifically based decision to reject the road ignores the concerns of the very communities that will bear the brunt of the road’s devastating impacts.
We urge Congress to listen to Alaska Native tribes, local communities, and science to ensure that the industrial Ambler Road is not approved in the final Defense bill. Please contact your congressional representatives today and ask them to ensure these intact and ecologically diverse lands are managed for the benefit of local communities and wildlife, not industry profits.