WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of the Interior has advanced two actions that maintain protections for Alaska’s public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which are home to important fish and wildlife habitat, sensitive rivers and streams, and other resources critical to the state’s subsistence economy and the way of life of Alaska Native peoples.

The actions build on the Biden-Harris administration's actions to protect millions of acres of Alaskan lands and waters, including implementing maximum protections for more than 13 million acres of special areas in the Western Arctic and protecting about 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea to close the entire United States Arctic Ocean to new oil and gas leases. President Biden is on track to protect more lands and waters than any president in history.

“The Department of the Interior takes seriously our commitment to manage America's public lands for the benefit of all people,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “In Alaska, that means considering the impacts of proposed actions on Alaska Native peoples and rural subsistence users. Guided by feedback from tribal nations, indigenous businesses, and the best available science, the steps we take today will ensure these important lands remain intact for generations to come.”

Rejection of the proposed Ambler Road

The Department also released the Order of Determination (ROD) for the proposed Ambler Road project, choosing the “No Action” alternative from the final Ambler Road Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) due April 2024. The decision means that the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) does not have a right of way over BLM-managed lands. The ROD completes the Supplemental EIS process and requirements for reviewing AIDEA's application.

There are no active mines in the area and no mining plan proposals have been submitted to the federal government.

The proposed Ambler Road would have traversed 211 miles of significant wildlife habitat and pristine waters critical to the subsistence activities of tribal communities along the iconic Brooks Range in north-central Alaska. The BLM's analysis found that the road would have required over 3,000 river crossings to build and would have impacted endangered wildlife populations, including sheefish and the already dwindling Western Arctic caribou herd, which are an important food source for indigenous communities. The analysis also found that the road would have reduced the abundance and availability of subsistence resources while limiting access to them. In addition, the analysis showed that irreparable impacts to permafrost would make restoration of the road unlikely and that it is reasonably foreseeable that the industrial road would be used by the public, which would increase impacts to the surrounding environment and communities.

The BLM prepared the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to address deficiencies identified in the 2020 analysis that resulted in a remand by the federal district court. The new analysis evaluated the same range of alternatives and routes as the 2020 Environmental Impact Statement, but more thoroughly analyzed potential resource impacts, including livelihood impacts under section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). The ANILCA 810 analysis found that more than 60 Alaska Native communities would experience restrictions on their livelihoods and that more than 30 of them would experience significant restrictions on their subsistence uses should the road be built. The BLM is unable to make the determinations required under section 810(a)(3) of ANILCA that the significant restriction of subsistence uses in at least 30 communities is necessary consistent with sound management principles for the use of public lands for the route proposed by AIDEA or any of the other alternatives. Therefore, ANILCA prohibits the BLM from granting or maintaining the right-of-way through BLM-managed lands under any of the alternatives.

The BLM began the supplemental process in May 2022 and conducted 21 consultations with tribes and 16 Alaska Native corporations. A draft environmental impact statement was released in October 2023, on which the BLM solicited comments and held 12 public meetings and ANILCA 810 livelihood hearings in communities near the project. During the comment period, nearly 90,000 people submitted written comments.

The decision to select the “No Action” alternative was based on the public comments and input received and the analysis of the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Assessment, which found that each of the other alternatives would have significant and irreversible impacts on resources, including critical livelihoods, in a manner that cannot be adequately mitigated.

Reviewing continued protection of 28 million acres of public lands

In addition, the BLM released a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) analyzing the proposed repeal of existing removals on 28 million acres of BLM-managed public lands throughout Alaska. The final Environmental Impact Statement identifies “no action” as the preferred alternative, which maintains current protections on these lands and avoids potential impacts to natural and cultural resources from future potential development.

The comprehensive analysis comes in response to the previous administration's decision in its final days to rescind long-standing withdrawals without adequate public notice and comment, tribal consultation, or analysis of potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts. This sweeping action would have opened the 28 million acres to extractive development activities such as mining and oil and gas drilling, and removed millions of acres from federal subsistence priority. The previous administration's decision was put on hold to allow for a comprehensive review of potential impacts and to ensure appropriate engagement with the public and Alaska Native communities.

The BLM's analysis found that removing the protections would likely impact subsistence hunting and fishing in communities that would lose federal subsistence priority over some areas. Depending on the alternative, this would be between 44 and 117 communities. The analysis also found that removing some or all of the protections could have permanent negative impacts on wildlife, vegetation, and permafrost.

During the public hearing period and at 19 town hall meetings last winter, the BLM received overwhelming support for maintaining the delistings in their current form. Many Alaska Native tribes, corporations and tribal entities have said they are essential to protecting important subsistence hunting opportunities.

The withdrawals ordered under Section 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) span the BLM's Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward Peninsula, and Ring of Fire planning areas. The BLM analyzed a number of alternatives, including a “no action” alternative, which would maintain the withdrawals, and several alternative courses of action ranging from partial to full repeal.

The BLM conducted an extensive public process to gather input on this analysis from Alaska Native tribes and businesses, rural and urban communities, and the public. In total, the BLM received approximately 15,000 public comments on the draft. A decision will be made no sooner than 30 days after the final environmental impact statement is published in the Federal Register. Based on this analysis, the Minister of the Interior will make a decision.

The lands analyzed in the environmental impact report are already available and would continue to be available for selection by eligible individuals under the Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans Land Allotment Program. In 2022, Secretary Haaland partially lifted the withdrawals for these lands to allow land selection by Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans, making an additional 27 million acres available to the approximately 1,900 veterans eligible under the Dingell Act to select their 160-acre land claim. Last summer, the Secretary made an additional 812,000 acres available.