Biden administration identifies additional impacts to tribes from proposed mine road

The Biden administration said that the construction of a road that would be expected to facilitate mining operations in Alaska would impact more tribal communities than previously thought.

The administration on Friday afternoon issued a supplemental draft environmental review of the project, known as the Ambler Road, that had previously been approved during the Trump administration. 

The draft review found 66 communities that could be impacted, while the Trump administration identified just 27, the Biden administration said in a press release. These communities include those that depend on local caribou and fish, and almost all of them are associated with a tribe. 

“The latest draft includes additional data and analysis informed by robust Tribal consultation and cooperation, on-the-ground perspectives, and public input,” said Steve Cohn, Alaska State Director for the federal Bureau of Land Management. 

The road in question would run through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, a currently pristine and roadless location. According to the National Park Service, it contains “rugged peaks, glaciated arctic valleys, wild and scenic rivers, and many lakes” as well as forests, caribou, wolves, grizzly bears and black bears. 

The road would seek to connect  the Ambler Mining District located in northwest Alaska and the Dalton Highway. When it approved the project in 2020, the Trump administration cited the potential for the road to provide access to areas with significant copper and cobalt deposits. 

These minerals are used in various clean energy technologies. The International Energy Agency has projected that meeting the Paris Agreement’s goals could increase demand for copper and rare earth elements by more than 40 percent and nickel and cobalt demand by 60 to 70 percent. 

The draft assessment did not say whether the Biden administration was planning to ultimate block the road or allow it to move forward. 

But it is yet another choice that Democrats face on mining, weighing both environmental impacts and the potential for extraction of minerals that could be used in renewable energy.

At least one environmental group urged the administration to block the project. 

“You can’t bulldoze through millions of acres of wilderness, migration routes, rivers and a national park without causing major destruction. The Biden administration should revoke the permits for this harmful road and keep Alaska’s wild places intact," said Cooper Freeman, Alaska representative at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a written statement. 

The draft environmental review comes after the Biden administration indicated last year that it wanted to take a second look at the project, citing “significant deficiencies” in Trump-era analysis.