US officials spark backlash after resurrecting controversial road project: 'Deeply disappointed by this decision'

President Donald Trump has ordered the approval of a road construction project to enable mining in Alaska. Critics warn that it will also threaten wildlife and Indigenous communities in the state.

What's happening?

On October 6, the Associated Press reported, Trump ordered the approval of the Ambler Road Access Project, a 211-mile road intended to allow for the mining of copper, cobalt, gold, and other minerals.

Officials said the move will help the United States reach copper reserves in Alaska worth more than $7 billion and essential to the production of cars, electronics, and other products. 

"[It's] rich in all of the minerals that we need to win the [artificial intelligence] arms race against China," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.

Officials also announced that the U.S. is taking a 10% stake in the Canadian company Trilogy Metals, one of the companies set to develop the Ambler site.

Trump originally approved the project during his first term, but it was subsequently blocked by the Biden administration, which cited reports saying the project would threaten area wildlife, such as caribou, and the Alaska Native Tribal members for whom rich lands, hunting, and fishing are a cornerstone of life and culture.

Why is this concerning?

The road approval appears to be the latest move from the Trump administration that prioritizes drilling and mining over the welfare of local Tribes, wildlife, and ecosystems.

Last month, the administration sought approval for another controversial road project in Alaska that critics say will also put migratory birds and wildlife at risk. A similarly criticized project had previously been drafted under the Biden administration.

Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior proposed opening up most of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to oil and gas drilling though lands there are home to caribou, bears, wolverines, and birds. The current administration has rolled back funding and federal tax credits for renewable energy projects in favor of fossil fuel-driven energy production.

Experts and advocates are concerned these moves, especially taken all together, may prove harmful to native plants and animals and the ancestral lands of Alaska Native Tribes. The projects also promise to pump more toxic, heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere. 

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"Tanana Chiefs Conference is deeply disappointed by this decision," a collective of 37 Tribes in Interior Alaska posted on social media. "The Ambler Road threatens to open a path for industrial mining through the heart of the Brooks Range and across lands that are vital to caribou migration, fish habitat, and the subsistence practices that sustain our people."

What's being done?

Brian Ridley, Chief and Chairman of the TCC, said in a statement that the Ambler Road project "places corporate and extractive agendas over our rights, our lands, and our future." He continued: "Despite this, we stand firm: We will not be silenced. We will continue to fight."

While Burgum said in an October 6 press conference that he expects the road work to commence this spring, critics of the project note that lawsuits could still halt construction.

"It is not over," Bridget Psarianos told the Anchorage Daily News. Psarianos is a lawyer with the nonprofit firm Trustees for Alaska, which is "disputing the road's environmental approvals in an ongoing court case," according to the outlet.

The Arctic advocacy group Protect the Kobuk has said the Ambler Road would cut through almost 3,000 streams, over 1,700 acres of wetland, and 11 rivers.

"They tried to assimilate us, to wipe us out and yet we're still here," Karmen Monigold, an Inupiaq member of the group, told the AP. "We still matter."

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