We recently let you know the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting public comments on a 211-mile road proposed across part of the southern Brooks Range in Alaska to the so-called Ambler Mining District. There is a second opportunity to weigh in against this disastrous road project—the National Park Service is also accepting public comments until October 29. The preferred route would cross Gates of the Arctic National Preserve—adjacent to the Gates of the Arctic Wilderness and National Park—and the Kobuk Wild and Scenic River. These ecologically significant public lands make up part of the largest remaining roadless area in the country. The road would facilitate huge mining operations, benefitting a private Canadian company at the expense of Wilderness and wildlife. The route would cross nearly 3,000 streams, 11 major rivers, 1,700 acres of wetlands, and major caribou migration routes. The road would also bisect a wide swath of the southern Brooks Range, which is home to grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, moose, wolverines, and three different caribou herds. Alternative A (Northern Alignment—shown on the maps) is the most egregious option for the proposed road because of its proximity to Gates of the Arctic Wilderness and National Park. Gates of the Arctic is one of our wildest parks—with no roads, no trails, and no established campsites. Road noise, dust, and vehicle headlights at night would degrade the area’s wild character, and this new road would lead to motorized intrusions in the Wilderness. | |
Please tell the National Park Service that you oppose this destructive and unnecessary road. Comments are due October 29 and must be submitted at this link: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=98058 We encourage you to write in your own words, but consider including the following points in your comment letter:
I oppose the Ambler Road, including all of the alternatives presented, for the following reasons: - Alternatives A and B would cross the Gates of the Arctic Preserve and the Kobuk National Wild and Scenic River, and all alternatives (A,B and C) would cross important caribou migration routes of three different caribou herds, including the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. The road could have significant negative impacts on the health of these animals, leading to a population decline that would disrupt the entire ecosystem.
- The alternative A route passes in very close proximity to lands within the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Gates of the Arctic Wilderness. If built, the road would impair the area's wild character due to noise, and visual impacts such as road dust, vehicle lights during darkness, and sights of the road from numerous vantage points in the Wilderness. The close proximity would undoubtedly lead to more use and motorized intrusions into the Gates of the Arctic Wilderness.
- This road would facilitate development of huge mining operations with serious risk of acid rock contamination of the Kobuk River, with a highly productive and diverse fishery crucial to humans and wildlife. Many of the mining claims in the Ambler area drain into the Kobuk River. Rivers, streams and entire watersheds in the region will be at high risk for disastrous contamination. The DEIS and the Park Service's Environmental and Economic Analysis (EEA) focus only on the road itself but fail to address the enormous issues of mining impacts.
- The road is proposed to be closed to the public; however, similar promises on past projects have been broken, leading to permanent and widespread impacts from ATVs, motorboats, airstrips, and hunting and fishing pressure, all impacting wildlands, wildlife, and local traditional subsistence uses.
- Once bisected by an industrial-use road, Wilderness is no longer true wilderness. The Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk River areas were set aside as Wilderness and Wild River status, and should remain so. The country's remaining tracts of Wilderness need to be preserved intact for future generations, not sacrificed for private financial gain.
Thank you for taking action to help protect wilderness and wildlife in Alaska! | |
