Burgum grants rights of way for destructive Ambler Road
Caribou move through the mountains in Gates of the Arctic National Park.
Zak Richter, NPS
This is a significant step toward bulldozing the industrial road across our national public lands
In defiance of Alaska hunters, fishers, outdoor recreationists and 88 Tribal governments that have passed resolutions opposing construction of the controversial Ambler Road, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum today reissued the rights-of-way and Clean Water Act permit needed for the project in a significant step toward bulldozing the industrial road across our national public lands.
The 211-mile road would be built for the benefit of private industry to access the Ambler Mining District, while cutting across some of Alaska’s wildest landscapes and part of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The road project would harm salmon streams and local communities’ subsistence resources while also threatening caribou migration patterns.
The Wilderness Society released the following statement from Alaska Senior Manager Matt Jackson in response to Burgum’s actions:
" Thousands of Alaskans and dozens of Tribes in the region have been crystal clear about saying ‘NO’ to the Ambler Road in the interest of protecting this wild Alaska landscape – the Brooks Range, the Koyokon and Kobuk rivers, and the thousands of tributaries the road would cross – for future generations.
“Our grandchildren deserve the same freedom to hunt for caribou, fish for salmon, and experience wilderness that we've received. We don't want this road, and we oppose these rights of way."
