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NEPA Number: DOI-BLM-AK-F030-2016-0008-EIS
Project Name: Ambler Road/Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Project

Project Information

NEPA Number

DOI-BLM-AK-F030-2016-0008-EIS
Project Name

Ambler Road/Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Project
Project Type

EIS
NEPA Status

Completed - Completed
Lead Office

Central Yukon Field Office
Last Updated

3/5/2026 5:00:00 PM

Project Description

The proposed project is named the Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Project. The project is proposed by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). The applicant proposes to construct a new 211-mile roadway along the southern flanks of the Brooks Range, extending west from the Dalton Highway to the south bank of the Ambler River. The proposed road is for industrial access to provide surface transportation to the Ambler Mining District. The proposed road would not be designed or open for public access and would be open only to industrial traffic to support expanded exploration, mine development, and mine operations at mineral prospects throughout the Ambler Mining District. 

The proposed road would cross state lands (61%), Native corporation lands (15%), and federal lands (24%) managed by the BLM and the National Park Service. The start of the road would originate on BLM-managed public lands within the Dalton Highway Utility Corridor. The road would then extend across State-owned lands, Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, lands privately owned by Alaska Native corporations, and isolated BLM-managed parcels. The proposed road would cross roughly 24 miles of BLM-managed public lands in total. BLM Alaska led the analysis required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) working cooperatively with other state and Federal agencies.

AIDEA has submitted applications with the BLM, National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for rights-of-way, permits, and related authorizations for the proposed project. Because approximately 26 miles of the proposed road would pass through a conservation system unit, the Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, the entire application process is subject to the provisions of Title XI of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).

The Ambler Road SF-299 Application Package can be reviewed at:
1) The Documents page listed on the left side of this website
2) The BLM Alaska Public Room 
Federal Building, 1st Floor
222 W 7th Avenue 
Anchorage, AK 99513
3) Fairbanks District Office
Public Room
222 University Avenue
Fairbanks, AK 99709-3844

Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

What's New

The Ambler Road BLM Record of Decision (ROD) is available

The BLM's Ambler Road Record of Decision is available on the Documents Page. The Record of Decision details the BLM's final decision regarding the project.

The proposed Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road was originally analyzed in the March 2020 Final EIS and authorized in a Record of Decision issued in July 2020. Litigation commenced with lawsuits from multiple parties in August and October 2020. In February 2022, the Department of the Interior requested a voluntary remand from the U.S. District Court for Alaska after additional legal analysis had revealed deficiencies in the BLM’s analysis of subsistence impacts under ANILCA Section 810 and consultation with tribes pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The Court granted the request in May 2022, returning the matter to BLM to correct the identified deficiencies. The BLM has prepared a Supplemental EIS to help address the identified deficiencies, and to ensure compliance with applicable laws, including NEPA, FLPMA, NHPA, and ANILCA.

The updated Supplemental EIS responds to the remand by the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska based on identified deficiencies in the 2020 environmental analysis for the proposed road, including inadequate analysis of subsistence impacts under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

For more information contact Stacie McIntosh, Project Manager, at 907-474-2398, [email protected].

Draft EIS Publication

Actual Date

8/30/2019

Final EIS Publication

Actual Date

3/20/2020

Project Location

City	State/Territory	Zip Code	County(ies)
Bettles Field	Alaska	99726	Yukon-Koyukuk

Application Information

Applicant

Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA)
Case File Number

F-97112
Program

Lands and Realty
Sub-Program

Rights-of-Way

Project Dates

Start Date

2/28/2017
End Date

6/25/2024

Notice of Intent Publication

NOI Publication Date

2/28/2017

Record of Decision Publication

Actual Date

6/25/2024

Project Office Information

Lead Office

Central Yukon Field Office
Offices

Central Yukon FO

Contacts

Contact 1 Name

Stacie McIntosh
Contact 1 Email

[email protected]
Contact 1 Phone

(000) 000-0000