Alaska's development authority again takes ANWR and Ambler to closed session

The state's development authority will discuss two of Alaska's most divisive development projects — potential oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the proposed Ambler mining road — in private this week, the latest instance of the authority deliberating on both behind closed doors.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority board meets Wednesday, and its agenda routes four items into executive session — the closed portion of the meeting. Along with the refuge and Ambler projects, the board will privately take up the West Susitna access road, the Ketchikan shipyard, and the authority's finances and bylaws. The board cites legal grounds including attorney-client privilege and internal deliberation for closing the discussion.

It is not the first time. Board minutes show the refuge, Ambler and West Susitna projects were taken into executive session at the authority's December meeting as well — the refuge and Ambler again out of public view. Under Alaska's open-meetings law, a board must vote publicly before going into a closed session, and the exceptions that allow it are meant to be read narrowly; sensitivity of a topic alone is not grounds to close a meeting.

At least one of the projects has drawn organized opposition: the Evansville Tribal Council says it and 87 other tribal governments oppose the Ambler road. The public can comment at the meeting before the closed session begins, and one West Susitna item is set to return to open session afterward. The board's next regular meeting is Sept. 22 in Kotzebue.