On Jan. 21, the Department of Interior filed a 30-day extension to delay its response to lawsuits by tribes and environmentalists opposed to the 210-mile Ambler mining road, needed to access the Ambler Mining District.
That extension request was granted, which means today the Department of Interior has to release its decision on whether it will back the Trump Administration’s approval of the road.
Department of Interior Sec. Deb Haaland is expected to reverse the Trump decision, according to sources, but the department may wait to make the announcement until after Sen. Lisa Murkowski finishes her annual address to the Alaska Legislature, scheduled for 11 am Alaska. time. Murkowski voted to approve Haaland’s appointment to the Department of Interior.
The road would be a limited access highway through the Gates of the Arctic National Preserve to a large prospective copper-zinc mineral with vast deposits of rare earth minerals and other elements needed for national security. It is opposed by the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which has filed a lawsuit against what Trump approved. Environmental groups also have lawsuits against the decision.
In January, the Tanana Chiefs Conference issued a statement. Its lawsuit against the Department of Interior is at this link.
The Ambler road is one of several Trump decisions that favored development that are now being undone by the Biden Administration.
In August, Interior Secretary Haaland announced that the department shut down already-approved oil leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
