Ambler Road hunting closure up for Nov. 20 vote traces to a confidential agreement

The Alaska Board of Game will decide Nov. 20 whether to close a two-mile-wide strip along the proposed Ambler Road to hunting and trapping, a step called for in a confidential memorandum among state agencies, Native corporations, a mining company and the federal government.

The proposal before the board was submitted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, one of the memorandum's parties. It doesn't mention the agreement. But a department official pointed the Matanuska Valley advisory committee to it this summer and called the closure "the first step" toward moving the road forward, according to committee minutes.

The board, which tabled the closure in July, moved it up to a Nov. 20 web conference. It will take written comments until 8 am Nov. 16 but no testimony at the meeting.

What the closure would do

The Ambler Road would run 211 miles west from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District. It hasn't been built, and seven conservation groups are challenging the state's easement in court.

The closure would cover one mile on each side of the road, about 420 square miles, according to department staff comments. Those comments say hunters and trappers could still cross the corridor to reach open areas.

The version the board considered in July had no end date. The version before it now would close the corridor from July 1, 2029, through Jan. 1, 2036, unless the board extends it. The November regulation text doesn't explain the dates or say anything about crossing.

The agreement

The memorandum of understanding is among the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which is developing the road; the Department of Fish and Game; NANA Regional Corporation; Doyon, Limited; K'oyitl'ots'ina, Limited; Ambler Metals LLC; and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Under a section titled "Hunting Buffer," the parties agree to work with the Fish and Game commissioner to propose that the Board of Game prohibit hunting and fishing within a mile on each side of the road. The buffer "will not prevent the ability of subsistence users to safely cross" the road, the memorandum says.

The memorandum says it "is not binding on the Parties" and can be changed only "by unanimous written agreement of the Parties." It is stamped "CONFIDENTIAL." A copy is nonetheless attached to a public notice for a July 7 meeting of the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee.

AIDEA's board authorized its executive director to enter into the agreement on Sept. 26, 2025. The agency's Nov. 4 agenda lists an amended version of that resolution without saying what would change. AIDEA continued the meeting to Friday afternoon, with a closed session that included the road. The public record doesn't yet show whether the amendment passed.

What the department has said

Fish and Game's staff comments on the proposal say it "will assist in the planning process for future construction and use of the road" and that the department "has no biological concern for any species" as a result of the road. They don't mention the memorandum.

Ryan Scott, director of the department's Division of Wildlife Conservation, discussed it with advisory committees. Matanuska Valley minutes from July 7 record him pointing members to the memorandum and calling the proposal "the first step" toward moving the road forward. "We are a development state and the administration is interested in mining development," the minutes record him saying.

At a June 24 meeting, Fairbanks committee minutes record Scott tying the proposal to the administration's development priority and to a "level playing field," so road users wouldn't have an advantage. He added that public safety could be a concern.

The memorandum covers hunting and fishing. The proposal covers hunting and trapping. The Fairbanks minutes record Scott saying the department's fisheries divisions knew of the plan, but that he didn't know whether a similar proposal would go to the Board of Fisheries.

Where others stand

Doyon, NANA and Ambler Metals wrote to the board in July supporting the closure. All three cited safety, and none mentioned the memorandum. NANA also supported considering a narrower corridor to limit the effect on hunters and trappers from Kobuk, Shungnak and Ambler, though the memorandum it is a party to describes two miles.

Three advisory committees didn't back the closure. The Fairbanks committee, most of whose June 24 participants had reviewed the memorandum, told the board that distributing the proposal "satisfies the coordination requirements stated in the MOU" and asked for no action. The Matanuska Valley committee voted 11-1 against the closure and urged the board to take it up in its regular meeting cycle. The Kotzebue Sound committee voted 6-0 for no action, its draft minutes say, citing a lack of information and a wish to hear from upper Kobuk and Koyukuk residents.

Tanana Chiefs Conference, which opposes the road, asked for a wider closure, five miles on each side.

What else the agreement says

The memorandum describes the road as a private, controlled-access road for commercial use, with a gate at the Dalton Highway staffed 24 hours a day. It calls for a subsistence committee closely modeled on the one for the road to the Red Dog Mine, and it calls for contracting preferences for companies owned by NANA, Doyon or K'oyitl'ots'ina to the extent the law allows. Interior's participation runs through Dec. 31, 2028.