Alaska is home to some of the last and largest wild landscapes in North America, and the Brooks Range is one of the most remote regions of the state. This expansive and rugged terrain takes considerable effort to reach—and even more fortitude to explore. For hunters and anglers, the Brooks Range isn’t just an isolated stretch of mountains, rivers, and tundra—it’s a region where tradition, adventure, and conservation still matter.
That’s why more than 19,000 individuals and 68 groups and brands, including local Alaskan businesses, formed the Hunters and Anglers for the Brooks Range Coalition to help maintain the wild and remote character of the Brooks Range by preventing the construction of the 211-mile Ambler Industrial Road.
Below is an update on recent developments with the Ambler Road project, why it does not align with the president’s America First priorities, and what steps are being taken to conserve the area for current and future generations.
What has Been Happening
At the end of 2024, the Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range coalition mobilized a powerful grassroots effort to protect the region’s wild landscape when an amendment was quietly inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act. This amendment would have required the Department of the Interior to permit the road. Sportsmen and women sent nearly 5,000 messages and made more than 1,000 calls to lawmakers urging them to remove the amendment from the bill. Thanks to this collective pressure, the amendment was successfully removed during conference negotiations on December 8, 2024.
In January 2025, Executive Order 14153 was signed, and it included a long list of items for the Department of the Interior (DOI) to review and act upon in order to accelerate resource development in Alaska. The Ambler Road was listed alongside numerous other provisions, and DOI is presently reevaluating a 2024 Bureau of Land Management decision to deny the permit to build the Ambler Road.
In May 2025, language that would have forced the right-of-way for the private industrial road was included in early versions of the House budget reconciliation bill. Thanks in part to advocacy from hunters and anglers, that language was removed from the final House version of the bill, which passed on May 22.
The Senate is now developing its version of the reconciliation legislation. Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range are working closely with lawmakers to ensure that the Ambler Road language does not resurface. We believe that the Ambler language is inconsistent with the so-called “Byrd Rule,” which requires that provisions in reconciliation bills have a direct budgetary impact to pass with a simple majority.
Image courtesy of Greg Halbach
Why the Ambler Road Matters to Hunters and Anglers
The Brooks Range is critically important for rural subsistence and supports world-class hunting opportunities for caribou, moose, grizzly bear, and Dall sheep, plus fishing for trophy sheefish (known as tarpon of the north) and Dolly Varden. Specifically:
The Ambler Road would cross 11 major rivers, require nearly 3,000 stream crossings, and impact over 1,400 acres of wetlands.
This private industrial road would bisect the migration routes of three caribou herds—including the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, one of Alaska’s largest, which has already declined by 41% since 2017. This herd is a critical food resource for more than 60 rural communities.
Industrial traffic could reach 168 trips per day, forever altering the remote and rugged character of one of the world’s premier hunting and fishing destinations.
“After a week or two on the river, my clients certainly marvel at the fishing, but also the beauty of the Brooks Range, and the opportunity they get to settle into the rhythm and quiet that is so hard to find in other places, even Alaska. There is no question that the Ambler Road would degrade the remote wilderness that makes the area so special.”
Greg Halbach, owner and lead guide, Remote Waters
Ambler Road Conflicts with the Trump Administration’s America First Agenda
As President Trump has defined his agenda, it has become abundantly clear that the Ambler Road conflicts with his America First priorities.
The President has emphasized that the United States must reduce its dependence on foreign sources for mineral processing and supply —especially from rival nations like China. Yet according to a 2023 feasibility study by Trilogy Metals, one of two foreign companies with mineral rights in the Ambler area, “it was assumed that delivery of all concentrates would be to a smelter in the Asia Pacific region,” adding that “the significance of the Chinese market for concentrate cannot be understated.”
Additionally, ore concentrates would be trucked from the proposed mining district over 700 miles to the Port of Alaska in Anchorage, then shipped to smelters and refineries in Asia. Development of these mines would perpetuate America’s dependence on foreign-controlled supply chains while benefitting our rivals—directly undermining the Administration’s efforts to reduce such vulnerabilities. Specifically:
Executive Order 14272: Emphasizes the national security risks of relying on foreign nations for critical mineral processing and initiated a Section 232 investigation into the national security implications of importing processed critical minerals.
Executive Order 14153: Focuses on “guarding against foreign powers weaponizing energy supplies in theaters of geopolitical conflict,” reinforcing the importance of American control over mineral processing.
Executive Order 14241: States that “our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production.”
Ambler Road is Financially Risky
The road would be financed by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), a publicly funded development bank. In theory, the project’s projected cost of $2 billion would be repaid through tolls paid by the mining companies, but this proposition appears risky at best, with no guarantee of return. The economic feasibility of the area’s mineral resources remains uncertain due to the high (and likely rising) cost of development, the quality and quantity of the deposits, and the evolving trade policies and volatile markets that affect overseas processing. Given the high likelihood that this proposal will never pay out, it is hard to imagine how anyone would finance this project using their own money.
Next Steps
First, Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range remains committed to keeping the Ambler amendment out of the Senate reconciliation bill and any future legislation. We will continue to be in regular contact with lawmakers and expect more clarity on the Senate bill in the coming days.
Second, the Trump administration has an opportunity to stand with hunters and anglers by conserving the Brooks Range and maintaining our nation’s most remote hunting and fishing grounds. We encourage the administration to take a harder look at this proposal, which conflicts with President Trump’s priorities and would not only undermine the interests of hunters and anglers, but the interests of our nation as well. It is also an exceedingly risky business venture.
I’ve made a dozen trips to Alaska’s Brooks Range, spent a fair amount of time in the field elsewhere in the north, and tested many useful products over the last six years as the gear editor for Alaska Magazine. I’ve also talked to numerous experts who have experienced the Brooks themselves. This packing list is tailored to an August or September excursion, and I recommend using it as a guide to help research your own personalized gear system. Get ready: You’re in for the backcountry experience of a lifetime. -Bjorn Dihle
The sort of tent you want will depend on what kind of adventure you are planning and the time of the year. From June through August, I’d consider a 3- or 3.5-season tent for trips where weight is an issue. For the rest of the year, I’d only bring a 4-season tent. [Note: Some brands bill their tent as being 4-season but are not built to weather Alaska’s four seasons. Do your research.]
“This is big country, maybe bigger than you might realize from home. An airplane drop in the Brooks Range could turn into a trip for you that’s not only far away, but also back centuries or more. Bring a sharp knife. And your humility.”
– Seth Kantner, life-long resident of northwest Alaska and author of A Thousand Trails Home: Living with Caribou.
Image courtesy of Aaron Hitchins
Backpack
There are a lot of good packs out there. I’m most partial to Stone Glacier, as their internal packs are ideal for hunting the brushy and steep country of where I live in Southeast Alaska. Mystery Ranch also makes very high-quality hunting packs. Some folks like external frame packs—I like them for packing moose but, overall, I’ll stick with my Stone Glacier.
Sleeping Bag
My best recommendation is that you bring a bag that uses Downtek, a water-repellent down fill. Treated down is way better than a synthetic or traditional down bag.
For temperature rating, make sure you have something appropriate for the time of the year you’re going. I recommend a 20-degree bag or colder for mid to late August trips. Consider a 0-degree or colder bag for September trips.
I’ve had good luck with Big Agnes bags in the past. I also like Kelty Cosmic Ultra 20 for its price and quality. A good sleeping bag system for colder times of the year takes more consideration—Wiggy’s is somewhere to start.
“Bring a high-quality sleeping bag that’s rated 10 to 20 degrees colder than you think you’d need.”
–Oliver Ancans, Air National Guard
Sleeping Mat
I like foam mats, such as this one by Nemo, but each person has their preferred comfort level. I like to place my outerwear between two mats for more insulation. If it’s going to be cold, consider pairing a foam mat with an inflatable mat – but make sure you bring a repair kit. Overall, Therm-a-rest makes the most reliable inflatable mats I’ve slept on.
Garmin makes the best two-way satellite communicators. I love my Garmin inReach Explorer and wish Garmin had not stopped making this model – I’m not a big fan of satellite phones. There’s still the inReach Mini 2, and Garmin told me their Montana 700 Series is similar to and even better than their inReach Explorer. I’ve yet to use that model, so I can’t comment on it.
The Starlink availability map shows that it covers the Brooks Range. This is very likely the way of the future for remote communication. That said, I haven’t used Starlink and the technology is pretty new. I would not use Starlink as my sole means of communication in the Brooks Range at this point.
“I highly recommend you bring an inReach so you can let people know you are OK. It is so remote that no other devices will work very effectively.”
– John Gaedeke, Owner of Iniakuk Wilderness Lake Lodge
Stove
My go-to stove for the Brooks is the MSR XGK EX Stove—it burns the hottest, uses different types of fuel, and is the easiest to clean. The MSR Dragonfly Stove is good if you want to expand your cooking options, since its heat is easier to control. The MSR Whisperlite is decent, too. Regardless of which stove you choose, make sure you bring an extra pump or two and that you know how to clean your stove.
While Pocket Rockets, WindBurners, and Jetboils can be convenient, you can’t always count on being able to get gas canisters up north. Call your air service ahead of time to figure out camp fuel possibilities.
Meat Care
I only use a lightweight pillowcase style, having learned the hard way early on in my hunting career that mesh game bags can lead to lots of fly eggs and even maggots in your meat. Argali offers a good range of high-quality game bags. Heavy game bags are not ideal for most backcountry hunts.
I also bring a small tarp to protect meat from rain. I carry several heavy-duty plastic garbage bags for lining my backpack while packing meat and for the bush flight out. I pack a couple of small knives, a small sharpener, and a lightweight bone saw.
Food Storage
Since the Brooks Range is so remote, I recommend being careful with your food storage so you don’t end up losing your provisions and having a real survival situation. It’s not just bears you have to worry about—foxes, ravens, and wolverines are also known to raid food.
I store my food using either canoe barrels or bear proof cans with my pots and dishes stacked on top to alarm me if an animal messes with my store. Ursack Bear Bags are also an option—just make sure yours is tied off to a tree.
“Ensure you give yourself extra time on each end of your trip, in case of weather delays.”
-Kelly Reynolds, Alaska Pilot, Hunter, and Trapper
Electric Bear Fence
You don’t necessarily need a bear fence, but the Brooks has a surprising number of grizzlies. They tend to be more inquisitive and, at times, aggressive than coastal brown bears. On one trip to the Brooks, in the middle of the night, I had a bear trample my tent—it woke me up to say the least. If you’re hunting, it’s more likely that you’ll want a fence to protect your meat than to string around your tent.
Eagle Enterprises has kits and parts to build a bear fence. [Note: Do not sleep inside an electric fence with meat.]
Adventure Medical Kits makes good, lightweight kits tailored to backcountry hunting. I recommend packing extra Ibuprofen and athletic tape for blisters, rubs, and other issues. I also pack extra Pepto-Bismol tablets, Benadryl, and a topical antibiotic like Neosporin.
“Respect cold water and places where a bad fall could get you in trouble.”
– Bruce “Buck” Nelson, Retired Alaska Smoke Jumper, Hunter, and Adventurer
Image courtesy of Greg Halbach
Watercraft
You may want an inflatable boat depending on the sort of adventure. There are some rental options in Anchorage, Fairbanks, or from a local outfitter. It might be worth just purchasing a boat depending on your future plans. If you’re going with a guide, they should already have a boat figured out if your trip warrants one.
Alpacka Raft makes the best packrafts, which weigh as little as 6 pounds and take up a small portion of a big backpack on ultralight float hunts. Some models are designed specifically for hunting and fishing.There’s a saying that packrafts have redefined the way you can look at a map, and it’s entirely true.
Pristine Ventures makes some good hunting and fishing rafts and canoes.
Aire makes a range of high-quality inflatable boats.
Rifle and Ammunition
I’ve hunted the Brooks with calibers ranging from .243 to .338 win mag—my favorite caliber. You can kill anything with that range of calibers and good shot placement, but I recommend considering a larger caliber if you’re hunting grizzly or moose. I generally bring 20 bullets to be safe – you’ll need more ammo than you think if your scope gets bumped in transit. If you’re bowhunting, fishing, or hiking, I recommend carrying a sidearm for bear protection. There are a lot of opinions out there. I carry a lightweight short-barrel Taurus .44 mag when I’m not packing a rifle.
Fishing Rod
If you’re not going to the Brooks to fish, the odds are you’ll have the opportunity to catch Arctic grayling. Consider bringing your fly rod. If space is a big issue, I recommend a collapsible spin rod.
Optics
The Brooks is big country, so I recommend bringing a good spotting scope. At least consider a lightweight pair of binoculars. Vortex and Maven have good options.
Trekking Poles
For hiking, expect to encounter everything from heavenly alpine tundra to hellish tussocks. Trekking poles can make a big difference, especially when hauling a heavy pack full of meat. I’ve been happy with my Leki poles.
Image courtesy of Aaron Hitchins
Clothing
A good layering system is vital. I stick to fleece and synthetic materials, though some people like wool and fur. There’s no shortage of good brands of outdoor clothing to choose from. The Brooks can have a snow storm any month of the year, so be prepared with good, warm clothing. I strongly recommend a high-quality set of raingear, a puffy jacket, gloves, a neck gaiter, and a warm hat in addition to layers of fleece. Bring extra wool socks—I like Meindl’s, but I most often bring whatever Costco is selling. Also consider neoprene socks or a neoprene-wool hybrid sock.
“Bring rain gear, the best you can get.”
– Tom Phillips, Veteran Kobuk River Paddler
Boots and Waders
If you’re making a fishing trip to the Brooks, you probably already have your waders figured out. If not, I recommend a pair from Simms. Boots are more subjective. I recommend giving some thought to whatever boot system you decide to go with. Break in your boots beforehand.
Also consider bringing a good pair of gaiters if you’re going with leather boots. The Brooks Range makes for very wet and often uneven travel, largely due to tussocks. Keeping your feet healthy can be an issue. Wiggy’s lightweight thigh-high waders are popular with many. Strange as it might sound, I often travel the Brooks in sandals and neoprene socks during warmer months. I bring a lightweight pair of hiking shoes or boots for rougher mountain travel.
Drysuit
If you’re floating a river that has whitewater, or even if it is mostly flatwater, a drysuit can be a game changer – and even save your life. I have never used a drysuit in the Brooks, but I have packrafted a handful of rivers up there and several times I have gotten soaked and quite cold.
I have used and liked Kokatat drysuits. Just make sure yours is designed for paddling.
“An essential piece of gear I’d recommend for someone planning their first wilderness trip to the area, if they will be spending time on the water, is a drysuit. Rain, snow, wind, and cold water can lead to hypothermia, even during the summer months, and a drysuit will keep you as happy as a duck in a storm through the worst weather.”
– Kevin Fraley, Fisheries Ecologist
Camera
My best advice for a trip to the Brooks might be to get a good camera before going. You’re very likely to see some incredible things. My camera of choice is a Sony RX10 iii or IV. I like it because it’s relatively lightweight and has a 24-600mm lens. There are a lot of other great cameras out there that might be a better fit for what you want, but the Sony RX10 is the one I’ve settled on.
“Not once but twice I found myself in the middle of the caribou migration. Hundreds of thousands of caribou walking just feet away. The first time it happened, I only had a little Kodak film camera. The next day I ordered a real camera. I had just experienced something truly majestic and didn’t have the right gear to capture it. The second time it happened, I still only had my phone camera. It was snowing and the pictures didn’t turn out great, but I did get a little video. Buy – and pack – the best camera you can afford.”
Sunglasses – it can snow at any time of year and snow blindness is very real
Carpet thread and some stout sewing needles – I’ve lost track of the number of times this has saved me when things like tents, clothing, and sleeping bags have torn.
Boat patch repair kit
Extra lighters and good fire starter
Extra cord and webbing
Small tarp
Tent-pole repair kit
Leatherman or similar multi-tool
One or two 5-gallon collapsible water jugs
Headlamp – granted, there’s light 24 hours a day from late May through mid-August
Sunblock
A small roll of duct tape
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Larry Bartlett is well known for having hunted and explored much of the best country Alaska has to offer. He’s the owner of Pristine Ventures, a company specializing in helping DIY hunters and adventurers make their Alaska dream trip a reality and selling and renting cool gear like rafts and canoes engineered for the wilds of the north.
Larry believes the Brooks Range is a national treasure worth bequeathing to our future generations of grandkids and their people. That’s why he’s against the proposed Ambler Road. If built, the project would be a publicly funded 211-mile private road across the southern Brooks Range to help develop an unknown number of foreign-owned mines. Larry points out the impacts could be catastrophic to the water quality and biodiversity of the central and western Brooks Range.
Here is his story.
Describe the types of activities you’ve enjoyed in the Brooks Range.
I’ve traversed most of the navigable rivers in the Brooks Range from Kotzebue to Canada, but my specialty is exploring non-navigable streams for rafting, hunting, archeological searches, and fishing.
Share one memory that stands out to you.
Well, it feels wrong to narrow the search to one memory! My exploration of the Brooks Range began in 1995. Since then, I have harvested dozens of caribou and moose, caught 40-lbs. sheefish, 15-lbs. char, and countless salmon. I have harvested other animals selectively, like Dall sheep, black and grizzly bears, and wolves.
My fondest memory is a recent fishing float trip with my two young kids, who were 7 and 9 at the time. The region is so visceral because of the latitude, remote mountainous setting, surface-depth archeology, wind-blown and treeless landscapes with gin-clear streams filled with chum and char. My son and daughter were amazed to find a ridgetop covered with 11,000-year-old stone tool artifacts. Miles downstream, we located an ancient burial mound. It was a treasure to share these rare experiences with my children. It imprinted something so special on them. My children had layers of daily experiences on that 8-day float which they will draw from the rest of their lives. What they don’t yet comprehend is that the totality of those experiences could have only occurred in the Brooks Range.
Think of your first trip to the Brooks – what was different than you expected?
In 1995 I invited my dad, a native Texan, on a “caribou hunt” along the Haul Road. It was late August, and we hiked 5 miles to where it was legal to hunt with a rifle. The weather was 50 degrees and sunny when we left the road. It was in the 40s when we made camp 6 hours later. Right before sunset, it was in the low 30s and blowing snow. The next day there was a thick disorienting fog and zero visibility. After a long hike out on the tundra, my dad refused to believe my GPS to get back to camp. He was convinced camp was one way and I trusted the GPS, which was pointing 90 degrees the opposite way. We’re both stubborn as hell, so we split up. He got lost and wandered around in the fog in a near panic for three hours. Finally, he heard my calls and used the sound of my voice to guide him back to camp. The wet snow collapsed the tents. Without that GPS we would have died. A rookie learns fast that Alaska is wrought with unexpected complexities.
What is most special about this place?
As majestic, vast, and formidable as the mountain landscapes appear, what’s most special about the Brooks Range is the fragility of its lifeblood. Soil depth is shallow and without ice to hold its shape, the land is literally melting from sustained warmer temperatures and other factors caused by climate change. Certain streams that flowed gin-clear and were filled with fish 25 years ago now have white, brown, and red minerals leaching into them from the erosion of permafrost caused by decadal warming trends. Still, the Brooks Range has an amazingly vast intact ecosystem that supports a huge variety of animals, fish, birds and people.
Share at least one piece of essential gear you’d recommend packing or advice you’d share with someone going to the Brooks for the first time.
Besides a sharp and reliable pocketknife, bring at least a one quart-size Ziplock full of paper birch bark and a magnesium striker. You might suffer or die if you aren’t able to start a fire quickly in the Arctic.
Please share a favorite hunting or fishing memory or story from your time in the Brooks Range.
A few years ago, my family and two dogs made a week-long float in the southern Brooks Range. My daughter caught her first lake trout. I remember her being so proud as she reeled in that big fish. My all-time funniest memory is the look on the kids’ faces as they were drawn close, captivated by the vibrant colors of the side skin and fins, when I squealed and shoved the fish closer to them. It was a priceless memory found nowhere else but in the Brooks.
How do you think your experience in the Brooks would change if the Ambler Road was built? What do hunters and anglers stand to lose?
We stand to lose one of the last great wildernesses left in the United States. It’s a place that’s worth bequeathing to our future adventurous grandkids and their people.
Imagine a place you traveled by air or river to marvel at wild mountains, be self-reliant, and harvest fresh wild meat and fish. Would your vision of that place also have an industrial road connecting a string of open pit mines?
Larry Bartlett
What aspect of the proposed Ambler Road project concerns you most?
I’ve had nearly 30 years of experience on the ground in the Brooks Range and I’ve seen the alarming effects warming temperatures have had in the proposed road areas. Streams I once relied on for fresh water are now laden with minerals that taste like iron even after filtering. I’m concerned that a project of this scale will likely expedite harmful disruptions in critical areas. The impacts could be catastrophic to the water quality and biodiversity of the entire central and western region of the Brooks Range. An industrial mining complex connected to a 210-mile road does not belong in the Brooks Range.
What’s the biggest misconception you’ve heard about the project?
The biggest misconception is that there will be public access to the proposed road after it’s funded. This would be a private industrial road.
Another huge misconception is the proposed cost of the project. Every expedition and endeavor I’ve pursued in the Brooks Range typically ends up costing me 30-40% more than I budgeted. On an industrial scale, I believe the true cost it will take to complete the project will be two to three times what has been projected.
What might you say to someone who said, “I don’t understand why this road is such a big threat?”
Imagine a place you traveled by air or river to marvel at wild mountains, be self-reliant, and harvest fresh wild meat and fish. Would your vision of that place also have an industrial road connecting a string of open pit mines?
Why is it important that hunters and anglers across the nation speak up against the proposed Ambler Road?
It’s not just the Ambler Road we are fighting, it’s the processes of federal land transfers of vast swathes of public lands to private industrial use. This is being done seemingly without regard to public input. The Brooks Range represents the crown jewel of terra incognita, or what’s left of it in America.
Photo credit: Larry Bartlett
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the above blog are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range or partners. HABR does not accept responsibility for these views, thoughts, and opinions.
Seth Kantner is a writer, commercial fisherman, and photographer who splits his time between Kotzebue, Alaska, and the Kobuk River. Kantner was born in a sod igloo on the river and has made a life hunting, fishing, and gathering from the land. If you haven’t read his work, do yourself a favor and pick up one of his books. Some of our favorites are A Thousand Trails Home: Living with Caribou, and Ordinary Wolves.
Kantner strongly opposes the proposed Ambler Road. The industrial corridor threatens the land, wildlife, and lifestyle that he loves and that support his subsistence needs and artistic work. He believes that hunters and anglers need to unite with local residents to keep the Brooks Range wild for all people.
Here is his story.
What do you love most about living in the Brooks Range?
I love traveling the wild country in all seasons and directions. I love being able to harvest what I need to live from this land and these waters.
Please describe the types of activities you enjoy in the Brooks Range.
In the fall, I like walking the tundra and smelling the aromas and seeing the colors. I like seeing how plants and animals have fared for another season. Often, I’ll be picking cranberries while keeping an eye out for meat for dinner, as well as caribou for use all year long. After autumn, I enjoy watching freeze-up and how it affects mating moose, denning bears, migrating caribou, and all the various creatures here. Then, with winter, there’s ice fishing, storms, and darkness. In spring, there’s the joy of the returning sun, spring bird migrations, goose hunting, hauling firewood, gathering supplies from the land, and the last chance at travel across the ice. Then we’re finally back around to water again, with summer and salmon returning.
Are there particular species of fish, wildlife, or plants that are especially important to you?
Furs and salmon have been most important to me for having a few green dollars over the decades. Caribou, muskox, bears, moose, and fish have provided the most meat and fat for countless meals from this land. Special always to my hands and heart and wardrobe have been wolf skins, caribou hides, cranberries, spruce wood, white-fronted geese, blueberries, and other needed/loved foods and materials. Caribou and other animals — not to mention beautiful and open wild landscapes — have also provided me with photographs to document the riches of nature, and the rapid changes taking place.
What makes the Brooks Range so special or unique? Why should people in the Lower 48 care about the future of this region?
The Brooks Range is a present-day version of what people think of when they imagine the near-mythical American Frontier of the early 1800s. Grizzly bears, wolves, colossal herds of migrating ungulates, clean clear rivers, giant wild fish, and Native hunters — all on a vast and seemingly endless wilderness with only very rare signs of humans.
What do you think most people would be surprised to know about the Brooks Range?
I grew up in the Brooks Range, with humans being the rarest creatures around, so I’m not a good judge of what would surprise people about this place.
Please share at least one piece of essential gear you’d recommend—or a piece of advice you’d share—with someone planning their first wilderness trip in the Brooks.
This is big country, maybe bigger than you might realize from home. An airplane drop in the Brooks Range could turn into a trip for you that’s not only far away in distance, but also back in time centuries or more. Bring a sharp knife. And your humility.
Is there a part of the Brooks Range that you haven’t had the chance to explore but would like to? Where would you go and what would you do?
Most of it! The Brooks Range is huge and stretches from the northwest coast of Alaska all the way east to Canada. I’m kind of a homeboy. Locally, we prefer to travel only as far as we need to gather food. I’ve seen only portions of the Brooks Range, often in winter when the ice is thick enough for traveling the rivers and land. I’d like to see more of the country between Shungnak and Anaktuvuk Pass, and more in summer and fall.
This is big country, maybe bigger than you might realize from home. An airplane drop in the Brooks Range could turn into a trip for you that’s not only far away in distance, but also back in time centuries or more. Bring a sharp knife. And your humility.
Seth Kantner
Please share a favorite hunting or fishing memory or story from your time in the Brooks Range.
My life is all those stories. Buy some of my books!
What concerns you the most about the proposed Ambler Road and the associated mines?
It’s hard to know where to start. Why wreck this amazing wilderness, pollute these clean rivers, all this land, and our way of life? There are countless examples of that, worldwide—the Brooks Range is a shining example of a piece of the planet BEFORE that kind of unnecessary destruction.
How might you and your community be impacted if the proposed Ambler Road were built?
Our way of life here — and the wildlife, too — would be washed away under a deluge of people, machines, and money. Especially the money. We’d lose what matters to us. We’d have to live on store food. Hunting and fishing would no longer be the age-old focus of local culture, and the land wouldn’t be rich and all-providing as it is now. All that would be traded for some new iPhones and talking toasters, and a couple billionaires thousands of miles away getting a few zeros richer.
What’s the biggest misconception you’ve heard about the proposed Ambler Road, and how have you responded?
There are too many to list. The biggest nonsensical claim is that tearing up the Brooks Range to mine copper and other minerals is necessary to make the world “greener.”
What might you say to someone who said, “I don’t understand why this road is such a big threat?”
They need to spend time in the vast wilderness of the Brooks Range. That might be one of the clearest visions of this threat.
Why is it important that hunters and anglers across the nation speak up against the proposed Ambler Road?
We need help. We need a coalition of groups to face this huge machine that wants to convert wild country directly into money.
It’s critically important for this land, and the earth, that we win this battle — and keep winning it. Also, it’s important because local people are taking a stand. Villagers have risked speaking out, and villagers here are not used to doing that. For this reason — in addition to protecting the land — we need to stay vigilant and keep growing stronger and more resolute.
Thank you for any and all help, and I will do my best to return that when and if your home is endangered.
Photo credit: James Q. Martin; Kiliii Yuyan; China Kantner
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the above blog are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range or partners. HABR does not accept responsibility for these views, thoughts, and opinions.
John Gaedeke and his family built and have operated, for a half century and counting, the Iniakuk Lake Wilderness Lodge in Alaska’s Brooks Range. Having spent a lifetime exploring and living in the Brooks, Gaedeke understands this landscape is unlike any other. This realization has been solidified as he has witnessed the deep, positive effect the wildness, quiet, and beauty of the Brooks Range has on his guests.
That’s part of the reason why Gaedeke opposes the proposed Ambler Road. If built, the 211-mile industrial corridor, designed to support the development of an unknown number of mines, would cut through the land just a few miles south of his lodge. It would irreversibly alter the wild character of the Brooks to the detriment of local and visiting hunters, anglers, and others who care about wild country.
Here is his story.
How long have you had a connection to the Brooks Range?
My parents started a wilderness lodge on Iniakuk Lake in the summer of 1974. I was born the next summer, so my connection to the Brooks began at birth.
What do you love most about living in the Brooks Range?
I love the Brooks Range’s unending vast, wild space and its power to stun people — newcomers, especially.
Tell us about the services and activities you offer.
My family is entering its 50th season offering tours into the Brooks Range from our lodge at Iniakuk Lake. My parents founded the place as a hunting lodge. Today, we offer sightseeing into Gates of the Arctic National Park, where we have inholdings along the Alatna River. We also fly clients out to Kobuk Valley National Park in the summer. During March and April, we offer aurora viewing and teach people how to drive their own dog teams.
Are there particular species of fish, wildlife, or plants that are especially important to your business?
The caribou and contiguous wilderness are a big part of why people come so far north to see the Brooks Range. Our caribou cabin at the headwaters of the Alatna River allows people the opportunity to see the Western Arctic Caribou Herd migrating right past the front door.
What makes the Brooks Range so special or unique?
The Brooks Range is unique because it is completely intact. Despite thousands of years of human occupation, it remains essentially what it has always been. We don’t need to clean the rivers or restock the fish. We just need to not screw it up with large scale industrialization.
Why should people in the Lower 48 care about the future of this region?
People in the Lower 48 should care because the Brooks Range region is the last of the roadless wilderness in North America. We are the last state for caribou. We are the only state above the Arctic Circle. If we cannot protect what is already wild and beautiful, then we will most likely destroy everything in between.
What do you think most people would be surprised to know about the Brooks Range?
I think most people would be surprised to know that the Brooks Range is entirely north of the Arctic Circle but can still have temperatures that are between 80 and 90 degrees in the summer and negative 50 or 60 degrees in the winter. It is a land of extremes.
Please share at least one piece of essential gear you’d recommend—or a piece of advice you’d share—with someone planning their first wilderness trip in the Brooks.
For your first trip to the Brooks Range, I highly recommend bringing an InReach so you can let people know you are OK. It is so remote that no other device will work quite as effectively. I would also advise people to start small with a trip focused on one river or lake. Too many people think that since it is so far, they should paddle and see as many rivers as possible, in case you never get back here. Pace yourself — the experience will change your soul and you will want to return.
Is there a part of the Brooks Range that you haven’t had the chance to explore but would like to? Where would you go and what would you do?
I would like to travel across the entire northern edge of the Brooks Range by snowmachine in the spring, dipping south into the different valleys and seeing the massive caribou herds before they disappear.
“The biggest misconception I have heard is that a private industrial road will help lower the cost of goods to local villages. Local villages will not be connected to the road. They will get all of the bad with none of the good. I respond to this misconception by saying look at Tanana, Manley, Minto, and Circle. Go see what a road has done for those communities and their economy. Road access is not a magic wand leading to prosperity.”
John Gaedeke
Please share a favorite hunting or fishing memory or story from your time in the Brooks Range.
One year, I drove a snowmachine from Bettles west to Allakaket, then up the Alatna River to Survey Pass and on through to Anaktuvuk Pass. Then I went east and south through Ernie Pass, down the North Fork of the Koyukuk, and back to Bettles. It was a perfect 10-day weather window in February, and the trip was flawless. We were surrounded by 2,000 caribou at one point, and it was hard to believe it wasn’t a dream.
What concerns you the most about the proposed Ambler Road and/or the associated mines?
I am most concerned about the lack of oversight for the Ambler Road and associated mines. It is a ludicrous idea to subsidize a flawed project where the economics clearly do not work.
How might you and your business be impacted if the proposed Ambler Road were built?
The road is proposed to cross just a few miles off the end of Iniakuk Lake, so our wilderness lodge would effectively become a drive-through. The gravel mines necessary to build the road would stretch in all directions. With construction delays and funding issues, the project would assuredly be an endless boondoggle. It would destroy the hunting areas of nearby villages. It would invite the intrusion and destruction of wild lands in a way that is sacrilegious.
What’s the biggest misconception you’ve heard about the proposed Ambler Road, and how have you responded?
The biggest misconception I have heard is that a private industrial road will help lower the cost of goods to local villages. Local villages will not be connected to the road. They will get all of the bad with none of the good. I respond to this misconception by saying look at Tanana, Manley, Minto, and Circle. Go see what a road has done for those communities and their economy. Road access is not a magic wand leading to prosperity.
What might you say to someone who said, “I don’t understand why this road is such a big threat?”
The Ambler Road is a proposal to bring large scale open pit mining and industrialization to one of the world’s last and most remote contiguous wilderness areas. There is no existing infrastructure in this area. All power, transportation, excavation, refinement, and supply chains would have to built from nothing. It would threaten 11 major rivers, each one a unique watershed. Industrial development in any one of those 11 watersheds would be wildly controversial on its own if any of those rivers were in the contiguous United States.
Why is it important that hunters and anglers across the nation speak up against the proposed Ambler Road?
Hunters and anglers must speak up because we intimately know what is at stake. We cherish our time in the wild, and we have a powerful, bipartisan voice that crosses political lines.
Photo credit: John Gaedeke
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the above blog are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range or partners. HABR does not accept responsibility for these views, thoughts, and opinions.
Robert Olsen-Drye is an aircraft mechanic and the owner of Pops’ Air Service in Homer, Alaska. He got his first gig as an aircraft mechanic in Bettles, a small community near the southern edge of the Brooks Range. He spent three summers there, exploring Alaska’s northernmost mountain range by plane, foot, and paddle. Since then, he’s searched high and low but has never found another place like the Brooks Range.
Olsen-Drye doesn’t normally get fired up about politics. But, when it comes to things like the proposed Ambler Road, he has to get involved. If built, Ambler would be a private 211-mile industrial corridor across the Brooks Range, aimed at supporting the development of an unknown number of foreign-owned, open-pit mines to the detriment of the region’s land, wildlife, and hunter and angler opportunities.
Here is his story.
Describe the types of activities you’ve enjoyed in the Brooks Range.
I have flown all over the Brooks Range from as far east as the Sheenjek River to as far west as the Kobuk Sand Dunes. I have landed my airplane on the gravel bars of most rivers flowing from the Brooks Range. I’ve hunted. I’ve floated rivers. I try to get up there every year for an adventure.
Share a memory that stands out to you.
I was dropped by a floatplane on a lake on the western edge of the Brooks Range for a solo caribou hunt. During the more than a week I was out, I encountered fox, muskox, wolf, brown bear, and caribou. It was really enjoyable to experience nature, wildlife, and solitude. There’s something about being in that sort of solitude that really makes for lasting memories.
If you could come back, what would you love to do there next?
I would love to reattempt a sheep hunt. Or maybe a month-long raft trip.
A road through that wilderness would change everything. I like to see and hunt animals doing their natural thing. A big road with heavy equipment passing, with culverts and bridges, power stations and porta potties will 100% change wildlife behavior. It will alter water drainage and change the vegetation. There is no coming back if the Ambler Road is pushed through.
Robert Olsen-Drye
Think of your first trip to the Brooks – what was different than you expected?
My first trip to the Brooks consisted of flying my airplane to a remote village of 12 people to work as an aircraft mechanic for the summer. I didn’t know a single person and had never been that far north in my life. The village took me in and, since then, have become my lifelong friends. The Brooks Range will always be my home away from home.
What is most special about this place?
The wilderness. The vastness. The way the mountains seem to look at you with a mysterious eye. It’s raw. It’s more than most can handle. More than some can comprehend. The Brooks Range is definitely more than words can describe.
Share at least one piece of essential gear you’d recommend packing or advice you’d share with someone going to the Brooks for the first time.
Get an inReach. There is zero reason to not have a communication device in case of emergency. The Brooks Range is a wild place, and you cannot expect your trip to go as you planned.
How do you think your experience in the Brooks would change if the Ambler Road was built? What do hunters and anglers stand to lose?
A road through that wilderness would change everything. I like to see and hunt animals doing their natural thing. A big road with heavy equipment passing, with culverts and bridges, power stations and porta potties will 100% change wildlife behavior. It will alter water drainage and change the vegetation. There is no coming back if the Ambler Road is pushed through.
What aspect of the proposed Ambler Road project concerns you most?
Once lost, we cannot “create” more wilderness. Every time we insert ourselves into nature we change it. If a person walks through the woods one time, we change it in the slightest bit like causing an animal to avoid the moss we stepped on. But to build this road through the Brooks—there will be massive machines blasting over it day and night. It will greatly affect the wilderness for the worse.
What might you say to someone who said, “I don’t understand why this road is such a big threat?”
A road through one of the wildest places in the world is the worst idea possible. It would completely change the experience of venturing to the Brooks Range for the remoteness.
Why is it important that hunters and anglers across the nation speak up against the proposed Ambler Road?
The corporations pushing the Ambler Road project have no shortage of money. It’s going to take all of us to keep them from bullying their way through this. It’s our duty as conservationists to speak up for our public lands and wild places.
Photo credit: Robert Olsen-Drye
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How the proposed Ambler Road could impact the Western Arctic Caribou Herd
One of the biggest concerns over the proposed Ambler Road is how it would likely impact the Western Arctic caribou herd. If built, the Alaska Industrial Department and Export Authority (AIDEA) has insisted that the Ambler Road would be a 211-mile private industrial-access only road through the southern flanks of the Brooks Range used to develop an unknown number of foreign owned mines.
Caribou are incredibly important to locals and visiting hunters, other species of wildlife, and the land. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement identifies 66 communities whose subsistence activities could be potentially impacted by this road, finding that each of the proposed three routes may significantly restrict subsistence uses in nearly half of these communities.
Some people question if the Ambler Road would really be that bad for caribou and people. They point to the James Dalton Highway, where it’s pretty common to see caribou peacefully grazing nearby. We asked Jim Dau, a retired caribou biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to help explain the difference.
Dau has lived in Kotzebue, in northwest Alaska, since 1988. He was the Alaska Department of Fish and Game area biologist for 15 years and then the Western Arctic caribou herd biologist for 10+ years.
Dau began looking at the effects roads have on caribou during graduate school at the University of Fairbanks Alaska, with a study running from 1982-1985. He studied caribou from the Central Arctic caribou herd in the Kuparuk River Oil Fields north of the Brooks Range on the arctic coastal plain. He found that during calving season, maternal females avoided roads, buildings, and other industrial footprints. A month later, under extreme duress from mosquitoes, warble flies and bot flies, caribou would form large aggregations and negotiate roads – even standing in the shade of buildings – to seek relief from these insects in coastal insect relief habitat. Once cool temperatures or high winds reduced insect harassment, roads, traffic and other industrial infrastructure again interfered with caribou movements as they attempted to travel from insect relief habitat to better feeding areas inland.
A2024 study shows that road traffic on the North Slope disrupts caribou more than previously believed. Heather Johnson, a U.S. Geological Survey biologist who coauthored the study was quoted in theAlaska Public Media.
“Caribou are really sensitive,” Johnson said. “They’re really sensitive to human activity. And we’ve seen from past studies that they’re also sensitive to human infrastructure, and they really respond to it. The key takeaway from the paper is they’re more sensitive to road activity than we had previously recognized.”
Dau points out that Alaska has decades of experience showing that caribou can survive roads. But herds that have roads through their range tend to be significantly smaller than herds in roadless areas, such as the Western Arctic caribou herd. Most caribou herds near roads have been intensively managed, often allowing a hunter bag limit of only one caribou—usually a bull with a permit requirement— during a short open season each year.
“Roads can be terrible barriers to caribou, especially when there’s hunting off them or if there’s lots of traffic and other human activities on or along them,” Dau says.
The projected peak daily traffic for the proposed Ambler Road is 168 trips. However, this may be a conservative estimate.
The Western Arctic caribou herd’s range
The Western Arctic caribou herd’s range encompasses around 140,000 square miles of northwest Alaska. Caribou from this herd have wintered as far south as the southern extent of the Nulato Hills west of the lower Yukon River. They calve in the early summer in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range. Dau points out that caribou from the Western Arctic herd have one of the longest migrations of any terrestrial mammal. Some people say caribou don’t know where they are going or travel by instinct, but Dau’s experience suggests otherwise.
“For caribou managers, one of the biggest challenges is giving caribou options for places to go. In any one year, caribou rarely use their entire range. But over the course of decades, they’re going to use—and need—every square inch of it.”
Jim Dau
“I don’t buy that at all,” Dau says. “These animals know movement areas where they’ve gone in the past; plus, they follow deeply embedded trails throughout their range. One of the remarkable things about this caribou herd is the long-term stability it has exhibited in its overall decadal movement pattern combined with shorter term annual and seasonal variability in movements and distribution. In some years, caribou begin moving toward specific portions of their winter range before the first snowflake ever falls.”
There are different variables in how caribou use their range. Caribou show their most fidelity to calving areas, and their least fidelity to winter range. Every 10 to 15 years, Dau has seen shifts in the Western Arctic herd’s winter range.
“Caribou need their entire range,” Dau says. “For caribou managers, one of the biggest challenges is giving caribou options for places to go. In any one year, caribou rarely use their entire range. But over the course of decades, they’re going to use—and need—every square inch of it.”
Differences Between the James Dalton Highway and the Proposed Ambler Road
One prominent difference between the two roads is that the Dalton is a north-south corridor. The Central Arctic caribou herd’s summer-winter migration pattern runs north-south as well. The proposed Ambler Road would run 211-miles east-west, which would bisect much of the Western Arctic caribou herd’s winter range. If caribou from this herd successfully cross the proposed Ambler Road during the fall migration, they would have to cross it again to migrate north during the spring migration. This, Dau and many others believe, could have serious consequences not just for caribou but also for the people that depend on them.
BLM’s Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement states that the Ambler Road would affect migrating caribou in “an expansive area beyond the specific project area. Changes in availability of caribou to subsistence users could be a high-magnitude impact for impacted communities. Population-level effects to caribou are less likely but could be large-magnitude effects and impact all subsistence harvesters throughout the annual range of the herd.”
Dau believes we have a good model of how the Ambler Road would affect the Western Arctic herd and local and visiting hunters. It comes from looking at how caribou have responded to the Red Dog Mine road in northwest Alaska.
Red Dog Mine Road Study
The Red Dog Mine has the world’s largest known zinc deposit and is located 80 miles north of Kotzebue, near the western extent of the Brooks Range. The mine’s road is used to haul ore 52 miles across the Western Arctic caribou herd’s range to a port 10 miles southeast of the village of Kivalina. The Red Dog Mine road is much smaller than the Ambler Road would be and is currently the only industrial mining road in Northwest Alaska of a remotely similar scale.
Dau looked at how the Red Dog Mine road affected caribou movements from the middle of August through November during 1990-2015. In many years, a significant portion of the Western Arctic caribou herd encountered the road during their fall migration to their wintering grounds. Before Dau plotted the data of satellite collared caribou, he thought they weren’t having much difficulty crossing the road based on aerial reconnaissance flights of the road during fall. The data showed otherwise.
“I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it,” Dau says. “The telemetry data clearly showed that caribou approached the road but were usually delayed before crossing it. It often took multiple attempts for delayed caribou to finally cross it. During the fall 2011 migration, on average it took caribou 33 days before they crossed; however, some caribou were delayed up to two months before they crossed the road. Some caribou backtracked up to a hundred straight-line miles while delayed by the road. Of course, caribou rarely travel via straight lines. Many caribou that were delayed by the road traveled several hundred miles during their attempts to cross it. Some caribou never crossed the road. Instead, they wintered north-northeast of it, or they went around it to the east.”
Dau estimated that during the fall 2011 migration, roughly 80,000 caribou were delayed by the road. He found the Red Dog Road affected caribou up to 30 miles away—animals were probably responding to other caribou who’d already bounced off the road. After the caribou finally crossed the road, they put on extra speed to make up for lost time and get to their wintering grounds.
Dau notes that the Red Dog road has negatively impacted hunters. Many villages used to count on at least two months to obtain caribou meat during fall. During years when caribou were delayed by the road, some communities downstream of Red Dog in the fall migration had substantially less than that, and caribou weren’t available until after the onset of rut caused subsistence hunters to shift from taking bulls to harvesting cows. The decline in caribou and hunting opportunities has led to controversial non-local caribou hunting closures on federal land.
The Western Arctic Caribou peaked at 490,000 caribou around 2003. Since then, it has steadily declined and, in 2023, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported it numbered 152,000 caribou. Like all wildlife populations, caribou numbers naturally fluctuate up and down. No one fully understands what is driving this current decline, but Dau thinks that warming temperatures are likely a major contributing factor.
“Winter icing events in northwest Alaska have become more frequent and severe since around 2000, and my observations during caribou surveys and while retrieving radio collars from hundreds of caribou carcasses suggested that these events were deadly,” Dau says. “There is never a good time to fragment caribou ranges, but this is a particularly bad time to do so given that climatologists predict that temperatures are going to continue to rise for decades to come, and considering the persistence and degree of this ongoing caribou decline.”
A Valid Concern
Since it went into production, the 52-mile-long Red Dog Road has supported about 80 trips/day by large ore trucks, with additional small-vehicle traffic and road maintenance equipment. Red Dog is the sole industrial mine that uses this road. In contrast, AIDEA has reported that the 211-mile-long Ambler Road will support multiple mines in the Ambler Mining District, and said that communities near the project will be able to connect to this road for commercial deliveries of goods and services. However, AIDEA has provided very little information regarding the maximum number of mines, their size, or the type that the Ambler Road will facilitate. BLM’s Supplemental EIS report for the Ambler Road assumed that this road would support four mines – one for each major mineral deposit – in the Ambler Mining District. This assumption is by no means a binding limitation on the maximum number of mines or level of mining activity in the Ambler Mining District, though. Thus, throughout the original EIS and subsequent Supplemental EIS processes, agencies and the public could only consider potential impacts of the proposed road on the land, wildlife, and people: impacts of a large and possibly ever-expanding industrial mining complex have been ignored.
The only infrastructure along the Red Dog Road is a modest port site located at the coast. The proposed Ambler Road will have multiple buildings, several airports, numerous gravel sites, many large bridges, and other infrastructure located along its length. Given these differences, the Ambler Road will have significantly higher levels of vehicular traffic and other human activity than the Red Dog Road. This will greatly increase the Ambler Road’s potential to delay and deflect caribou movements and magnify its impacts on other fish and wildlife in the project area.
You don’t have to be a biologist to predict that, if built, the Ambler Road would negatively affect the Western Arctic caribou herd. Dau thinks the Ambler Road will have effects similar to the Red Dog Mine road–except at a much larger scale. The project would change the biological and social character of northwest Alaska to the detriment of subsistence users and visiting hunters and anglers.
Caribou, Dau points out, are incredibly important to northwest Alaska. For visitors, a Western Arctic caribou hunt can be a trip of a lifetime. To local people, caribou provide their most important sources of terrestrial meat.
“But it goes beyond that,” Dau says. “Caribou are part and parcel of indigenous subsistence cultures. I cannot overemphasize the importance of caribou to people.”
Photo credit: Jim Dau and Bjorn Dihle
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We have important news to share about the future of Alaska’s Brooks Range.
During conference negotiations on December 8, 2024, an amendment that would have forced the Department of the Interior to permit the 211-mile Ambler Industrial Road through America’s most wild and remote hunting and fishing grounds was quietly removed from the final draft of the National Defense Authorization Act.
This was a critical step in maintaining the wild and remote character of the Brooks Range, and it would not have been possible without hunters and anglers like you and our many committed partners. Thank you for your ongoing dedication to Alaska’s public lands and our hunting and fishing opportunities.
Proponents of the Ambler Road aren’t backing down, but today we celebrate the removal of one more threat and the knowledge that there are champions of the Brooks Range in Congress who acted for fish and wildlife habitat, water resources, and our nation’s wildest remaining country.
Thank you for being with us.
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Mary Glaves moved to Alaska in 2016 to pursue her dream of hunting and exploring the wildest lands left in the country. She and her husband chose to get married in the Brooks Range on a caribou hunt. That trip, and many since, have solidified Glaves’s understanding of how special a place the Brooks Range is and why it’s important to maintain its wild character.
Glaves believes that hunters and anglers have everything to lose and nothing to gain if the proposed Ambler Road is permitted. If built, the 211-mile private road would cut across the southern flanks of the Brooks Range to support the development of an unknown number of foreign-owned mines. She points out that the project would not create more access but, on the contrary, rob hunters and anglers of outdoor opportunities.
Here is her story.
Photo: Mary Glaves
Describe the types of activities you’ve enjoyed in the Brooks Range.
My first trip to the Brooks Range was to marry my best friend on a float hunt for caribou. Since then, I’ve hunted Dall sheep, caribou, and moose there. No trip has been quite like that first one, but all have been memorable and rewarding.
Please share a favorite hunting or fishing memory or story from your time in the Brooks Range.
My favorite memory from the Brooks was from a Dall sheep hunt to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We had incredible weather for most of that hunt. Despite having favorable conditions, we were getting toward the end without having taken a sheep. I was mentally preparing myself for not having success and trying to let go of circumstances I couldn’t control. On the last day, we finally spotted a legal ram. I’d never hiked so fast in my life! After a long day of field dressing, caping, and hiking the ram back to camp, we retrieved a bottle of champagne we had stashed at the air strip. I’ll never forget that feeling of exhausting hard work and celebration on top of a mountain with no one else around for miles.
Photo: Mary Glaves
If you could come back, what would you love to do there next?
During our wedding float hunt, we planned to fish for Arctic char and grayling but never got an opportunity due to extreme weather conditions and high water. It’s on my list to do a Brooks Range float trip dedicated to fishing. We’re considering the Kobuk, so we also have a chance to catch sheefish.
Think of your first trip to the Brooks – what was different than you expected?
Everything. The beauty and expansiveness were more vast and the challenges wilder. Some of the most arduous challenges I’ve faced in the backcountry occurred during our wedding float hunt. It was incredibly rainy and windy. The river we floated was the highest it’d been in over a decade. We had to bail out our rafts every mile or so with plastic stemless wine glasses.
One day we were only able to float four miles before we were hit with 40 to 50 mph wind gusts. We watched the river rise three feet that evening and had to move camp twice. My husband and I like to say that if we could survive that trip, we can survive our marriage. Our first trip to the Brooks ended on a high note with sunny weather and us harvesting two caribou.
Unpredictability and wild adventure are part of the allure of the Brooks Range. If you are prepared for the unexpected, you’ll enjoy even the most challenging conditions, form deep bonds with your adventure partners, and grow as an individual.
Photo: Mary Glaves
What is most special about this place?
The Brooks Range is the largest tract of wildlands left in the country — and arguably the planet. It allows for natural resources to self-sustain with an abundance of fish and wildlife, which face enough challenges without the Ambler Road.
Share at least one piece of essential gear you’d recommend packing or advice you’d share with someone going to the Brooks for the first time.
Good rain gear and flexibility. You never know what you’ll encounter in the Brooks. But you can almost guarantee that you will encounter rain and that your plans will change at least once, if not many more times.
Photo: Mary Glaves
How do you think your experience in the Brooks would change if the Ambler Road was built? What do hunters and anglers stand to lose?
The building of the Ambler Road would not create more access and opportunity but, on the contrary, rob us of it. The east-west trajectory of the road is unlike the Dalton Highway in that it bisects hundreds of rivers and streams and caribou migration routes. It’ll require 2900+ culverts, which will need to be maintained in extreme and rapidly changing climate conditions. It would jeopardize food security for remote villages and limit opportunities for visiting hunters and anglers.
What’s the biggest misconception you’ve heard about the project?
Many people think the road will lead to better hunting and fishing access. If built, the Ambler Road will likely remain private, unlike the Dalton Highway. The proposed Ambler Road would cause significant financial challenges for the state and would not be feasible to maintain.
“Roads don’t bother caribou” is another common misconception. Studies following collared caribou in the Western Arctic Caribou Herd show that the Red Dog mine’s access road significantly delays a lot of the herd’s winter migration. Even the scientists who conducted the study were surprised by the extent of the impact. Data shows that it takes caribou multiple attempts before they cross the road. On average, the road stalled caribou for 33 days. Most would bounce off the road retreat a hundred miles. Some never crossed the road, instead going all the way around it.
Photo: Mary Glaves
Why is it important that hunters and anglers across the nation speak up against the proposed Ambler Road?
Hunters and anglers across the nation need to come together around common values to conserve our heritage. Even if I never visit the Minnesota Boundary Waters, I understand their value. I think they should remain intact for those that live near them and visitors who want to experience them. For some, the Brooks Range is a once-in-a-lifetime hunting dream. For others, it’s their backyard and provides their annual food supply. For me, it’s adventure, solitude, food, and a place to recharge. With the range of experiences it offers outdoorsmen and women, the Brooks Range is invaluable.
