Interior conveys nearly 28,000 acres to NANA at Ambler corridor's west end

More than 27,000 acres at the western end of the proposed Ambler Road corridor have left federal management. The land now belongs to NANA Regional Corporation. The Bureau of Land Management reported the conveyance in a blog post published Sept. 30, 2025. The Department of the Interior made the transfer under Section 12(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The land no longer falls under Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction. Neither the agency nor the Department has published an effective date or an identifying number for the underlying conveyance decision.

The transfer brings the total conveyed to NANA to more than 713,000 acres. That is 96 percent of the corporation's entitlement.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said the conveyance reflects the administration's approach to Alaska Native land agreements. "This land transfer is a clear example of the Trump administration delivering on its promises," Burgum said.

Interior said the conveyance supports Executive Order 14153 and Secretary's Order 3422, "Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential." The announcement is the Department's own account. It contains no comment from NANA and no response from parties opposed to the Ambler project.

Congress enacted ANCSA in 1971 to settle aboriginal land claims. The law created regional and village corporations to take title to selected federal lands. Initial selections were finished in the 1970s. The Bureau of Land Management continues to process complex conveyances statewide. As of July 2026, the agency reported 44,247,071 acres conveyed statewide, 96.8 percent of the total entitlement.

The land sits at the western end of the Ambler Access Project, a proposed 211-mile industrial-controlled road meant to reach copper-zinc deposits in the Ambler Mining District. The road itself remains contested. The Ambler Road Draft Environmental Impact Statement concluded the road and the mining it would support are expected to reduce subsistence resource abundance and availability. The statement found a disproportionately high and adverse impact on minority and low-income populations.

The Tanana Chiefs Conference, in formal comments on that draft statement, argued the project would threaten Alaska Native communities' ability to continue traditional hunting, fishing and gathering practices.

NANA's board removed the corporation from the Ambler Access Project in May 2024. AIDEA said then that the route would shift north of NANA land while keeping access to 600,000 acres of state mining claims.