For Immediate Release

April 19, 2024

Contact: Thomas Plank, 303-720-0111 [email protected]

Admin Signals Intent to Deny Ambler Road Permit: BHA, Conservation Groups Approve

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced its intent to deny the permit for the Ambler Road Project, safeguarding Alaska’s famed Brooks Range and its unparalleled hunting and fishing grounds. This significant announcement was met with applause from Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA).

This announcement of the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and the selection of the "No Action Alternative" as the preferred alternative is a significant conservation win for all public land owners that value these remote landscapes, which produce spectacular public land backcountry opportunities.

In 2024 thousands of hunters and anglers from across the nation have joined Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range, a coalition of organizations including BHA battling for the conservation of the incredible public lands and waters in central Alaska, in urging the BLM to prevent the Ambler Road from moving forward.

“The Brooks Range is a beacon of wild, rugged, remarkable country that exists in few places in today’s world,” said Mary Glaves, Alaska Chapter Coordinator for BHA. “You can hike and hunt for days or float for a hundred miles and not see another soul. It’s an irreplaceable type of backcountry experience.”

Alaska’s Brooks Range could be permanently altered by the proposed Ambler Road. The private 211-mile industrial east to west corridor would facilitate the development of at least four mostly large, open-pit mines by foreign interests. The industrial road plan would have bisected important caribou habitat and cross nearly 3,000 streams and rivers, impacting key watersheds like the Kobuk and Koyukuk.

“Alaska’s Arctic landscape is as unique and diverse as the habitat within its boundaries. Projects like the Ambler Road backed by foreign mining companies and special interest groups threaten our subsistence way of life,” said Ryan Bandy, policy chair for the Alaska Chapter of BHA. “We celebrate this victory and the continued opportunity for sportsmen and women to hunt, trap, and fish in one of the most remote, scenic, and wild places in Alaska.”

“The risks of the Ambler Road outweigh any potential benefits,” continued Bandy. “Alaska BHA thanks the Bureau of Land Management for their diligence in the public process and their intent to safeguard these wild public lands, backcountry opportunities, and subsistence resources.”

Our work isn’t done yet. We need your help to ensure that the agency clinches this important conservation victory when it issues its final record of decision later this year. Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range will continue to elevate the voices of sportsmen and women that support a wild and remote Brooks Range.

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers seeks to ensure North America's outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting, through education and work on behalf of wild public lands, waters, and wildlife.