The Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge is seen from the air on Sept. 1, 2006. (Photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Three days after President Donald Trump signed an order approving federal permits for a proposed mining road through the Brooks Range, the U.S. Congress put the finishing touch on a resolution intended to further aid the Ambler Road project.
In a 50-46 vote on Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved a resolution that overturns the Biden administration’s decision to enact a land management plan for Interior Alaska that would have limited development in order to encourage the growth of declining caribou herds, salmon, dall sheep and other wildlife.
That vote followed one in early September by the U.S. House of Representatives. The resolution now goes to Trump’s desk, and the president is expected to sign it.
The Central Yukon Resource Management Plan was the result of a 10-year project to determine how 13.3 million acres of federal land in Interior Alaska should be used, including public access for subsistence and recreation, as well as opportunities for development. But the final result dissatisfied members of Alaska’s congressional delegation and Alaskans who favor mining and resource development, including Doyon Ltd., the regional Alaska Native corporation for Interior Alaska.
Those opponents worried that the plan would hamper projects like the 211-mile Ambler Road, which is intended to connect the Dalton Highway with potential mine sites in the Brooks Range. They also expressed concern that the plan could derail construction of the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
Environmental groups praised the plan, noting that local residents and Alaska Native tribes participated in shaping the result.
Opponents urged the delegation to seek the repeal of the plan, and Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, introduced a resolution to do so. Begich guided it through the House and on to the Senate, where it was supported by Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
“The Biden administration’s Central Yukon Resource Management Plan was an egregious case of federal overreach and just one of the administration’s 70 executive orders and actions singularly focused on harming Alaska, our economy, and our working families,” Sullivan said in a written statement. “This particular scheme effectively locked up millions of acres of Alaska’s land, ignored Alaska Native voices, undermined long-standing federal law, and blocked access to critical mineral, energy, gravel, and material resources that our local communities, state and nation need.”
Murkowski said that reopening the plan for additional changes will allow the Bureau of Land Management “to develop a more balanced plan.”
“I expect a new final plan to address long-standing access issues, provide greater opportunity for economic development, including key energy and mineral resources, and ensure Alaska Native landowners in the region can maximize the use of their own lands while still protecting subsistence and conserving where truly necessary,” she said in a statement.
Begich said he is “proud to see this legislation head to the President’s desk and grateful for the work of Senator Murkowski and Senator Sullivan to get this across the finish line as we continue to unlock Alaska’s resource potential.”
Environmental groups denounced the decision, with the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society saying that the delegation acted incorrectly.
“The existing plan was vital for both the people in the region and the salmon, caribou and Dall sheep that will suffer if migration routes are cut off and habitat isn’t protected,” said Cooper Freeman, Alaska director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Our Alaska delegation should stop selling out our communities and public lands to out-of-state corporations that just want to plunder our state for profit.”
