BLM’s Ambler Road SEIS Raises Concerns
By Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News Roughly a year and a half after suspending the previously issued federal permits to build a 211-mile industrial access road to the Ambler Mining District, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has published a draft supplemental environmental impact statement for a transportation corridor that would link the metal-rich region of Northwest Alaska to global markets. Permits for the Ambler Access Project were originally authorized by BLM and the National Park Service under the Trump administration. After President Biden took office, however, the Department of Interior determined that the BLM did not appropriately evaluate the effects the proposed Ambler Road might have on subsistence uses and did not adequately consult with Alaska Native tribes prior to authorizing permits for the Ambler Road. Since early last year, BLM has been carrying out a reanalysis of the proposed road that included further analysis of subsistence, as well as additional tribal consultation. “The latest draft includes additional data and analysis
informed by robust Tribal consultation and cooperation, on-the-ground perspectives, and public input,” said BLM Alaska State Director Steve Cohn. While the supplemental review of the Ambler Road is predicated on further tribal consultation, many see this as a tactic to delay and potentially reverse authorizations for access needed to develop mines rich in copper, zinc, and other metals critical to the U.S. “One of America’s greatest strengths over our adversaries is our energy and critical minerals,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said on Oct. 13. “Remarkably, the Biden administration has sought to unilaterally disarm these strengths, including with today’s Ambler Road supplemental EIS, which sets up more hurdles to access one [of] the biggest deposits of much-needed
critical minerals in our country.” Alaska Native perspectives
Over the past two years, a growing number of Alaska Natives who live in villages closest to the proposed road have come out in support of industrial access to the
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www.alaskaminers.org I The Alaska Miner I November 2023
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