"A lawsuit was filed Tuesday to stop the Trump administration from building a 211-mile-long industrial road that would cross Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and the Kobuk Wild and Scenic River in Alaska.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management last week granted a right-of-way for construction of the road, which would be used primarily to access a mining district. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority had been pushing the road as part of the proposed Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Project.

The road is to be built from the Dalton Highway to reach a mine site near Ambler, a tiny village believed to sit near one of the world's richest copper deposits. Trilogy Metals, a main stakeholder of the road, believes the road and mine will bring high-paying jobs, training, and educational opportunities to a region suffering from high unemployment and lack of economic opportunity."

Kurt Repanshek reports for National Parks Traveler August 4, 2020. [2]