Doyon, Limited is the Alaska Native regional corporation for Alaska's Interior. Owned by Athabascan shareholders, it is the largest landowner created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). It operates oilfield services, government contracting, tourism and utilities in the Interior.
Photo by BLM Alaska · Public domain
doyon.com ↗1 Doyon Pl, Fairbanks, AK 99701, USA
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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.
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About Doyon, Limited
Photo by BLM Alaska · Public domain
doyon.com ↗1 Doyon Pl, Fairbanks, AK 99701, USA
Doyon, Limited is the Alaska Native regional corporation for Alaska's Interior, owned by Athabascan shareholders and headquartered in Fairbanks. It is the largest landowner created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), and its businesses include oilfield services, government contracting, tourism and utilities.
Voting shareholders elect its board, and open seats are filled through applications and annual meeting elections. The corporation pays distributions to shareholders, supports students through the Doyon Foundation scholarship program and keeps a Descendant Registry that gives shareholders' descendants a path to hiring preference, training and internships.
Its subsidiary Doyon Utilities provides water, power and heat at Fort Wainwright, Fort Greely and Fort Richardson, and its rate requests draw public comment. Its land selections include a sacred Athabascan rock formation inside Denali National Park, whose conveyance requires an act of Congress.