AIDEA board to take up Ambler in closed session at Sept. 21-22 Kotzebue meetings

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority board will discuss the Ambler Road project behind closed doors next week, a session that will keep the public from hearing deliberations on a 211-mile corridor already contested by a regional tribal consortium over subsistence and wildlife concerns.

The board meets at Kotzebue's Nullagvik Hotel, with Zoom and phone access, at 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, and 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. Monday's closed session covers legal and financial matters with the Northwest Arctic Borough; Ambler is not on that agenda. Tuesday's executive session, the closed portion, covers AIDEA finances and projects including Ambler, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Red Dog Mine, West Susitna Access and the Ketchikan Shipyard, among others.

Public items include Resolution G26-10 on the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference, draft 2027 meeting dates, and project and loan reports.

The closed-door Ambler discussion follows a board resolution last October moving $50 million from AIDEA's Revolving Fund into a dedicated account for permitting, construction and legal costs on the road. That same month, the Bureau of Land Management reissued a 50-year right-of-way for the project, reversing its June 2024 decision to take no action. The Tanana Chiefs Conference had urged BLM to choose that no-action option, citing harm to subsistence resources and wildlife.

Only Tuesday's meeting takes oral public comment. Written comments go to [email protected] by 4 p.m. the day before each meeting.