"As far as the Biden administration is concerned, a proposed Alaska mining road through a U.S. national park and adjacent federal land is kaput. Rejected. Case closed.

The Bureau of Land Management decreed it thus in a June “record of decision” that rejected a right-of-way across the BLM-managed section of the proposed 211-mile Ambler access road. By extension, that  nixed the 20-mile stretch that would have crossed Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in the wildlands of the Brooks Range. The road, meant to serve hoped-for copper and cobalt mining, would irreparably harm Alaska Native communities and wildlife, including an already-declining caribou herd, BLM concluded.

“These natural wonders deserve our protection,” President Biden said at the time.

But that’s not how mining advocates in Washington and Alaska see the outlook for building the truck route that would link the Dalton Highway with the mineral-rich Ambler Mining District to the west.

Despite BLM’s cold shoulder in June — the Interior Department told the Traveler in a statement that it  was “a final action” —  Alaska’s governor, congressional allies and mining interests continue pushing for the road, their optimism enhanced by a shift in the political landscape."

Rita Beamish reports for National Parks Traveler January 11, 2025. [2]