The Biden administration on Friday denied an Alaska agency a permit to build a 211-mile industrial road that would pass through the gates of the Arctic National Park Refuge and reach copper and zinc deposits beneath untouched wilderness.
Separately, the administration said it plans to maintain protections for 28 million acres of land scattered across Alaska, where the Trump administration had sought to allow mining and oil and gas drilling. These lands are home to unique habitats for three major caribou herds, migratory birds, and Pacific salmon.
The two Interior Department decisions are part of a steady environmental push by President Biden to solidify his standing among environmentalists ahead of the November election. Environmentalists have pressured the administration to act more aggressively to protect public lands from new oil and gas projects.
“Today, my administration is preventing 211 miles of roads from carving up pristine areas that Alaska Native communities depend on, and taking action to protect Alaska’s 28 million acres of land from mining and drilling. ” Mr. Biden said in his statement: “These natural wonders demand our protection.”
In blocking the road, known as the Ambler Access Project, the administration prioritized conservation and protection for tribal communities that rely on hunting and fishing in the area over mineral development that could make more clean energy possible.
The proposed industrial road was seen as essential to reaching the estimated $7.5 billion copper deposit. Ambler Metals, the mining venture behind the project, said the copper they were seeking was essential to building wind turbines, solar panels and transmission lines needed for renewable energy.
Ambler Metals accused the Biden administration of refusing to build the road based on “the national politics of an election year, not the project.” The company said it would “explore all legal, legislative and regulatory avenues to pursue construction.”
The two-lane, all-season gravel road will cross the foothills of the Brooks Range and the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, crossing 11 rivers and thousands of streams to reach the future mine site, an area home to some of the world’s most ecologically fragile wildlife. Because it crosses federal lands, a permit from the Department of the Interior was required.
The Department of the Interior found that the road would disrupt habitat, pollute salmon spawning grounds, and threaten the hunting and fishing traditions of more than 30 Alaska Native communities. The agency concluded that any version of the industrial road would cause “serious and irreversible” harm to the environment and tribal communities.
The Trump administration approved a permit for Ambler Road in 2020.
After Biden was elected, the Interior Department ordered a new analysis, saying the previous administration had not done an adequate study of the road’s environmental impacts. In April, the Interior Department said it would oppose the proposed version of the road.
“The Department of the Interior takes seriously our obligation to manage America’s public lands for the benefit of all,” Secretary Deb Holland said in a statement. “In Alaska, this includes considering the impacts of proposed actions on Alaska Natives and rural livelihood users.”
Another Interior Department decision affects Alaska's D-1 lands, which were set aside from development in 1971 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
The Trump administration had planned to end protections for about 28 million acres of D-1 land. Shortly after President Biden took office, the Interior Department declared the Trump administration’s action legally flawed and launched a new environmental review.
The review found that removing the protections would likely harm subsistence hunting and fishing in up to 117 communities and cause lasting harm to wildlife, plants, and frozen ground known as permafrost. The Interior Department recommended that the lands remain federally protected.
Alaska tribal leaders praised the decision.
“I was privileged to grow up in an incredible place,” Julie Roberts-Hyslop, first chief of the Tanana Tribe, said in a statement. “I’m Neltsene. I’m from the Bear Tribe.”
“Alaska is one of the most pristine places in the world, and I feel a responsibility to protect it for future generations,” she added. “Our tribal nations are thrilled by this positive news.”
Chief Frank Thompson of Evansville, an Alaska Native village at the base of the Brooks Range, said his tribal council has been fighting the project for eight years. “Today is a happy day,” he said.
Alaska's congressional delegation, which unanimously supports the road project, is expected to fight the decision.
Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan said last week he added an amendment to the annual defense bill that would force the Interior Department to choose a path for the project. He called the Biden administration’s decision “illegal.”
Rep. Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native to represent the state in Congress and Alaska's only congressional Democrat, said in a statement that she supported Mr. Sullivan's efforts and believed there was “a path forward” for the Ambler Road project.