Ambler Road hunting closure up for Nov. 20 vote traces to agreement AIDEA is revisiting

The Alaska Board of Game will decide Nov. 20 whether to close a two-mile-wide corridor along the proposed Ambler Road to hunting and trapping. The closure was called for in a non-binding agreement that the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) board has now put back on its agenda.

The Board of Game meets by web conference at 8:30 am. In July it voted 5-2 to table the closure to its January meeting in Kotzebue, then on Oct. 13 scheduled the separate Nov. 20 meeting.

The closure would cover one mile on each side of the 211-mile road, which would run west from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District. The road has not been built. Department of Fish and Game staff comments put the corridor at about 420 square miles and say hunters and trappers would not be prohibited from crossing it to reach open areas. The November regulation text does not address crossing.

A Closure Rooted in a Written Agreement

The agreement is a memorandum of understanding among AIDEA, 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. In it, the parties say they will work with the Fish and Game commissioner to present and support a two-mile buffer before the Board of Game.

What the Memorandum Says

Under "Hunting Buffer," the parties agree to "present and support a proposal to the Board of Game to prohibit hunting and fishing in a two-mile-wide buffer area along the entire length of the Ambler Road." The memorandum says the buffer "will not prevent the ability of subsistence users to safely cross" the road.

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 Board Action

AIDEA's board authorized the agreement on Sept. 26, 2025, letting the executive director "negotiate, review, and enter into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with landowners and others along the route of the Ambler Road."

The board's Nov. 4 agenda lists an amended version of that resolution. It does not say what the amendment would change or whether it involves a change to the memorandum. AIDEA continued the meeting to 1 pm Friday, Nov. 6, with a closed session on the road project and matters subject to attorney-client privilege. The public record does not yet show whether the amendment was adopted.

Changes to the Board of Game Closure

The version before the board in November would close the corridor from July 1, 2029, through Jan. 1, 2036, unless the board extends it. The July version had no time limit. The November documents do not explain the dates.

Scope of the Proposal

The memorandum covers hunting and fishing. The proposal covers hunting and trapping. Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee minutes record Ryan Scott, director of the department's Division of Wildlife Conservation, saying the fisheries divisions knew of the plan but he did not know whether a similar proposal would go to the Board of Fisheries.

The department wrote the measure, known in July as Proposal 4. Its staff comments 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. Neither the comments nor the proposal mentions the memorandum.

What Scott Told the Committees

Scott raised it at advisory committee meetings. Matanuska Valley minutes from July 7 record him pointing members to the memorandum and calling Proposal 4 "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.

Fairbanks minutes from June 24 record him tying the proposal to the administration's priority of development and to a "level playing field" so road users would not have an advantage, adding that public safety could be a concern.

The Memorandum's Signers

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

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 1-11 against the closure and urged tabling it for the 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 people. Tanana Chiefs Conference, which opposes the road, asked for a corridor of five miles on each side.

Beyond the Buffer

The memorandum describes a private commercial road with a gate at the Dalton Highway staffed 24 hours a day. It would set up a Subsistence Committee modeled on the one for the Red Dog Mine road. The memorandum also calls for contracting preferences for companies owned by NANA, Doyon or K'oyitl'ots'ina to the extent the law allows. Interior's part runs through Dec. 31, 2028.

Written comments on the closure are due by 8 am Monday, Nov. 16, through the board's website. The board will take no testimony at the meeting.