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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.

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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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.  

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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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.

Follow Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range on Facebook and Instagram for future updates.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Note to readers: The Brooks Range is the most impressive stretch of wild country left in North America. It is unforgiving, hungry country that has swallowed experienced outdoorsmen. Buck Nelson has made plenty of epic and unique solo adventures in tough landscapes and spent years considering and planning this trip. If you’re planning an excursion in the Brooks, Nelson joins us in cautioning you to do your utmost to be prepared, be safe, and be realistic about the challenges you could potentially face.

For many, a trip to the Brooks Range is an adventure of a lifetime. Stretching from Canada in the east to near the Chukchi Sea in the west, it is Alaska’s most arctic mountain range. Buck Nelson, a retired smokejumper who has called Alaska home for more than 40 years, has made more than twenty trips to the Brooks. This last summer he made good on a longtime dream of going there and living off the land.

This wasn’t his first long stint living off the land in the backcountry — in 2014, Nelson spent 70 days doing so in Southeast Alaska’s Admiralty Island. This time around he planned to spend 50 days foraging, fishing, and hunting in the Arctic before using a packraft to paddle out to meet a plane.

“I wanted a challenge,” Nelson said. “I was familiar with the Brooks Range ecosystem and knew that food sources would be limited, but there were still some surprises.”

Into the Arctic Wild

On July 20, 2024, Nelson flew into a small river in the western Brooks Range. He brought no food, stove, hatchet, or canner, the latter of which was instrumental during his time on Admiralty Island. He brought the bare minimum of gear and clothing. His one luxury was salt and pepper. For getting food, he brought along a fly rod, a shotgun, and a plant guidebook called, Plants That We Eat: Nauriat Nigiñaqtaut – From the traditional wisdom of the Iñupiat Elders of Northwest Alaska.

This trip was quite different from most of Nelson’s adventures. More often, he covers lots of country, like when he traversed the entire length of the Brooks Range in 2006. This time, he got to know just a few square miles while searching for food. Fish — primarily grayling and char and, to a lesser extent, chum and pink salmon — were his most important food source.

Since Nelson camped near a salmon stream, he knew there would be a lot of grizzly bears using the area. Bears messed up his cooking area and solar panel, which he used for charging camera gear. On two occasions, they ran at him but veered off before making contact.

“It was exciting, but I don’t think either bear was actually trying to get me,” Nelson said.

He brought a shotgun in the hopes of hunting grouse, ptarmigan, and waterfowl. He saw plenty of ducks and geese until the season opened; then didn’t see any within range. As luck would have it, he didn’t see a single ptarmigan or grouse. So game birds were never on the menu. Nelson did enjoy plenty of blueberries and cloudberries and some crowberries, bearberries, cranberries, and nagoon berries.

Weight Loss

During the first weeks, Nelson dropped around twenty pounds. His rapid weight loss did not alarm him. From past trips, particularly from lessons garnered from Admiralty Island, he understood his weight loss would level off.

“Your body learns to adjust. Initially, you are just shedding all the pizza weight you got from town,” Nelson said.

Having chosen to leave behind his canner, he could not keep meat for more than a day or two. This prevented him from ever having a surplus of fish. While he was not approaching starvation, he was not able to gain back any of the weight he had rapidly lost at the beginning.

“I never had preserved fish for lean times but, thankfully, it was an incredible blueberry year, so I always had something to eat,” Nelson said.

Heavy Rain

In August, it began pouring rain and things became significantly more challenging. On average, the region gets just 12 inches of rain annually. Nelson estimates it rained 13 inches in two weeks. The Arctic landscape, with permafrost just below the surface, does not absorb rain well. Overnight, rivers and creeks can rise several feet and go from trickles to flood state. Nelson was unable to catch fish for a week and had to subsist on berries, roots, and leaves.

One of the more interesting foods he learned to forage for was Eskimo potatoes. He had noticed several areas where grizzlies had dug the roots along the river gravel bars. Consulting his plant guidebook, he learned that the bears were digging for Eskimo potatoes. A source of vitamin C, protein, and fiber, the “potato” roots offered an important addition to Nelson’s diet.

41 Days Alone

Nelson hoped to spend all 50 days without seeing another person, but on the 41st day he ran into two anglers.

“After I told them how long I had been out, they said something to the effect of, ‘Man, I bet you’re glad to see us.’ They were nice guys. I didn’t tell them the truth,” Nelson said.

The short Arctic autumn arrived swiftly, turning the tundra red and the willow leaves gold. During summer, there is no night in the Arctic. Now, the hours of darkness grew longer each night. Winter was not far off. Nelson met his goal of 50 days of living off the land and, on September 9, 2024, he inflated his packraft, loaded up his gear, and began the paddle to where he would fly out.

The Proposed Ambler Road

Nelson says people frequently ask if his epic trips provide him with any epiphanies. He’s not sure he’s garnered any that will solve any of life’s many mysteries, but he encourages people to “make hay while the sun shines” and make a dream trip a reality.

“It’s always easy to find an excuse not to go,” Nelson said.

Nelson does have a big takeaway specific to the Brooks Range. He sees the proposed Ambler Road as a threat to this area, its wildlife, and opportunities for future generations to adventure, fish, and hunt. If built, the Ambler Road would be a 211-mile private industrial corridor across the southern Brooks Range, with its only aim being the development of an unknown number of open-pit mines.

“It would cut through the middle of one of the greatest remaining wilderness areas in the United States,” said Nelson. “I could not have had an experience like I just had if the Ambler Road were built. That project would amount to the loss of such a wide swath of wilderness. Wilderness is what makes Alaska, Alaska.”

There are several rivers the planned road would cross that Nelson hopes to paddle someday. He points out that the road would affect a lot more acreage than it lies on. For the sake of future hunters, anglers, and dreamers, Nelson does not mince his words when he expresses his feelings about the Brooks Range.

“This wilderness belongs to us all. We must preserve these last, best places.”

Check out Nelson’s adventures, videos, and books at bucktrack.com.

Oliver Ancans lives in Eagle River, Alaska, where he serves in the Air National Guard and writes of his fishing adventures for Flylords and other publications. Ancans is a hardcore angler, willing to venture deep into the wilderness, go broke, and do just about anything else to make good on his fishing dreams. That drive has taken him all over Alaska, including on more than 10 trips to the Brooks Range.

Ancans is a firm believer that the proposed Ambler Road is a terrible idea for the Brooks Range, Alaskans, and local and visiting hunters and anglers.

Here is his story.

Describe the types of activities you’ve enjoyed in the Brooks Range.

Most of my attention is dedicated to fishing. I have targeted Arctic grayling, lake trout, char, and Dolly Varden. I’ve tried my hand at hunting for caribou with my bow, but I haven’t been successful yet.

Think of your first trip to the Brooks – what was different than you expected?

My first trip to the Brooks was so much more than I expected. I found myself staring at mountains as we floated through valleys, truly in awe of their magnificent stature and wild beauty. The fact that places like the Brooks still exist is amazing. 

What is most special about this place? 

It is still so wild, unless you are on the Dalton Highway. The only other people I’ve seen during my time in the Brooks were people hunting or fishing. It’s cool to see how everyone has a similar goal up there. The Dalton Highway is nice in a way, but having semi-trucks roar by you while you are hunting or fishing does not exactly leave you feeling connected to your surroundings.  

Please share a favorite hunting or fishing memory or story from your time in the Brooks Range.  

Aside from the Brooks Range’s huge Dolly Varden, the region’s char are pretty cool. They usually require some effort to get to but are very feisty and fight hard for their size.

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.

A high-quality sleeping bag that’s rated 10 to 20 degrees colder than you think you’ll need. 

On an August float trip a few years ago, we did not realize how cold it would get. We had just come out of Fairbanks, where it was still in the 70s during the day. It snowed on us as soon as we landed in the Brooks, and we knew that we were in for a very cold week-long float. 

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?

I understand that progress is necessary, but making a private road into the Brooks is ridiculous. It is hard to find untouched areas these days, and the Brooks should not be developed. 

What aspect of the proposed Ambler Road project concerns you most?

Everything from the stream crossings to the eyesore of the private road itself. I have always and will always lean toward the conservation side of things. I want my kids to be able to fish the Kobuk and surrounding rivers and not ask me, “Dad, what is that road?” At this point in our society, we need to leave wild places wild, because there aren’t many left. 

What’s the biggest misconception you’ve heard about the project? Do you have any questions about the project that you would like us to help answer?  

I’m not sure if it’s a misconception, but I have heard, “I’d love to hunt that road once it is done.” Well, as of now, it is not a public road. I don’t really understand how you can fly over that area, look down, and say, “You know what this place needs? A road.”

I guess that is where I feel disconnected from the need for progress. I was born in Bozeman, Montana, and grew up in a sleepy Michigan town – both have boomed, and you can never take it back. Overdevelopment has to stop somewhere.

What might you say to someone who said, “I don’t understand why this road is such a big threat?” 

Progress is important, but not in the Brooks. I am sure if this project were to happen, then there would just be another proposal for another road going to another mine or oil field. The Ambler Road is a way for big corporations to get their foot in the door, while the majority of Alaskans would not see any benefit from this road.

Feature photo courtesy of Kelly Reynolds

When the snow is deep in the Brooks Range, caribou will often use the high mountain ridges for easier access to forage and to better evade wolves. I killed a bull high up on one such ridge years ago. Instead of gutting the caribou right away, I sat next to him and stared out across the mountains and valleys that stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction.

To enjoy a moment like that is the most basic yet soul-filling reason that I hunt wild country.

The Magic of the Brooks

As a lifelong Alaskan and hunter, I’ve encountered few, if any, places that better embody the “spirit of the hunt” more than the Brooks Range. And this feeling is shared by just about everyone I’ve met who has spent time hunting its mountains and valleys.

The Brooks Range is Alaska’s northernmost mountain range. It stretches more than 700 miles across Alaska, from the border of Canada’s Yukon territory almost all the way to the Chukchi Sea. The north side of the range is open country, while much of the south is a mixture of boreal forest and tundra.

All mountain ranges are inspiring but there is something extra unique, even magical, about the Brooks. Trying to describe that magic is difficult, but most who’ve been there say it has to do with the remoteness, the incredible wildlife, and a sense of timelessness that you can’t really find anywhere else in the world.

But for the last several years, the proposed Ambler Road has hung over the future of the Brooks Range like a shadow.

If built, the Ambler Road would be a 211-mile private industrial corridor designed to help foreign-owned companies develop at least four open-pit mines in the western part of the range. It would damage fish and wildlife habitat, negatively altering the place for local and visiting hunters, as well as other outdoor recreationists.

This is why hunters and anglers recently celebrated the Bureau of Land Management’s final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, which indicates the agency’s intention to prevent construction of the Ambler Road. While this is great news, it’s not the final step in the process, and sportsmen and sportswomen await the BLM’s binding decision later this year. In the meantime, the outdoor community needs to continue to stay engaged to keep the Brooks Range a place where dream hunts can come true.

Like a Fever Dream

The Brooks Range offers many opportunities to hunt animals like moose, Dall sheep, and grizzlies, but, more than any other species, it’s caribou that embody the arctic wilderness. Most visiting hunters come with the hope of taking a nice animal but, once in the field, realize the killing part is only a small aspect of what makes a hunt in the Brooks Range exceptional.

Jim Dau is a retired caribou biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He has lived in Kotzebue in northwest Alaska since 1988, serving as the area biologist for 15 years, then, for ten years, as the biologist for the Western Arctic Caribou herd. Dau points out how vital caribou are for people, a wide range of dependent wildlife, and even the land.

“I can’t overemphasize the importance of caribou to people, especially subsistence users out here,” Dau says. “For a lot of nonlocals, hunting the Western Arctic Caribou herd is the trip of a lifetime. But a big surprise for people from the Lower 48 is how wild the place is. It’s so hard to find solitude these days. Here, you can.”

Bill Vanderheyden, owner and chief engineer of Iron Will Outfitters, which makes broadheads and archery gear, has hunted the Brooks Range three times and says there is no place on earth like it.

“I’ve hunted a number of wilderness areas in the Lower 48, but nothing nearly this remote,” Vanderheyden says. “The feeling of being truly remote and alone was unexpected, but also fed my soul.”

Vanderheyden encountered wildlife including muskox, wolverines, bears, wolves, and caribou. One experience that really stands out for him was while he was stalking a group of caribou.

“Two big white wolves cut in and proceeded to chase the caribou over a ridge,” he says. “It felt timeless, like man had been sharing the landscape with these wild animals, hunting caribou with a bow and arrow alongside the other predators for thousands of years.”

Ryan Sapena, the marketing manager for Seek Outside, says the Brooks Range is in a class of its own. When his great uncle – the family’s most revered hunting mentor – passed on, Sapena and his dad and brother used a portion of the inheritance to make a fly-in caribou hunt to the Brooks Range in his honor.

“You can’t compare the Brooks Range to another place,” Sapena says. “The trip was crazy. It’s hard to explain it to someone. It was kind of like a fever dream.”

The first morning, Sapena was outside his tent, waking up with a cup of coffee. Suddenly, a cow and calf caribou came charging across the tundra toward camp. A wolf was chasing them. The three animals were within 75 yards when the wolf smelled the men. The wolf stopped and stared at Sapena and his brother.

“The wolf looked almost disappointed that we hadn’t helped in slowing his quarry down,” Sapena says. “Then it was almost as if it sighed and continued after the cow and calf. I remember feeling more a part of the natural cycle than I had ever been. It was something that I will probably never get to experience again.”

At All Costs

Toward the end of my conversation with Sapena, we talked about the challenges of conserving wild places as civilization and its desire for resources extracted from the land continues to grow. There are no easy solutions to achieving a decent balance between the two. But he believes that the Brooks Range offers far more value left the way it is than it would if it were turned into a mining district.

“The Brooks Range is a place that, at all costs, should be protected,” he says.

When I reflect on my hunts and wanderings in the Brooks Range, they do feel like dreams. I remember the night after I killed the bull on the ridge, four wolves visited my camp. In the morning, their tracks showed that they had come within a few yards of the tent. Without breaking their stride, they ran a circle around the bull and another dead caribou we had stashed nearby, before heading in a straight line toward a valley where a herd of caribou had been the day before.

I didn’t think much of it at the time. It was just business as usual for the Brooks Range.

To maintain the Brooks Range as a dream hunting mecca for hunters and anglers, we need to stay engaged and continue to let the BLM know that sportsmen and sportswomen oppose the Ambler Road before the agency makes its final decision later this year.

Sign the petition to defend the Brooks Range’s unrivaled hunting opportunities.

Tori Hulslander is living her wildest dream. She grew up on a ranch in Oklahoma, married an Air Force fighter pilot, and moved to Fairbanks. Hulslander works for the Alaska Gear Company, maker of the beloved cold-weather expedition Arctic Oven Hot Tents. A lifelong hunter and a pilot herself, she and her husband take advantage of exploring and hunting the best wild country that Alaska has to offer. She is especially captivated by the Brooks Range for its unparalleled beauty, remoteness, and backcountry opportunities. 

Hulslander sees how the proposed Ambler Road threatens the land, wildlife, and our outdoor heritage. She points out that land is precious and cannot be created again — and that it’s important we safeguard one of North America’s greatest remaining pieces of wilderness.

Here is her story.

Describe the types of activities you’ve enjoyed in the Brooks Range.

My husband and I love flying up in our Super Cub, just the two of us, and exploring the untouched wilderness. We typically spend anywhere from a week to two weeks at a time in the Brooks, particularly hunting moose and Dall sheep from early August through September.

Share one particular memory that stands out to you.

The memory that stands out the most is when my husband and I packed out a bull moose I shot 3 miles from our Super Cub. If you know the Alaskan tundra, then you know that one mile feels like ten. I killed my bull on Monday, and we didn’t get out with it until Friday. It was a grueling and daunting adventure.

There was a special moment when we were pack-rafting a river with my quartered-up moose during a downpour of rain. The temperature had dropped, and we knew we were in trouble. Both soaking wet from falling into the river, and still a long way from the plane, we rounded the bend in the river only to see more trouble with the river diverting from the original course. We were exhausted, but the rain suddenly stopped and, amidst the chaos, a rainbow appeared over the mountains. It was a sweet reminder of the beauty of the wilderness and the allure of danger you can only find in places like the Brooks Range.

Think of your first trip to the Brooks – what was different than you expected?

It was the first time that I looked down from the plane and saw nothing for miles: no trails, no roads, no signs of man anywhere as far as I could see. The most special thing about the Brooks is that it doesn’t feel safe. It’s truly the last great frontier where you can go places where no one has ever been.

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.

There are people who prepare and people who can live without. And the Brooks Range teaches you to live without. I like to carry a Smith & Wesson 10mm on my chest 24/7. Also a good pair of boots, extra socks, and a mini-Bible.

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 proposed Ambler Road could have devastating environmental impacts. The road, spanning 211-miles along the south slope of the Brooks Range, threatens to disrupt the delicate patterns of wild species, including the caribou migration and the different Arctic fish species that rely on free habitat connectivity.

What aspect of the proposed Ambler Road project concerns you most?

If constructed, the road would open access to at least four major mining areas. Besides the impacts of the road itself, each mine could lead to widespread environmental degradation. This development could mark the beginning of the end for the Western Arctic caribou herd’s migration and pave the way for more industrial infrastructure, posing a significant threat to the ecosystem.

What might you say to someone who said, “I don’t understand why this road is such a big threat?” 

Land, once lost, can never be reclaimed. The untouched beauty of the Brooks Range will never be the same if it’s tarnished by greed.

Why is it important that hunters and anglers across the nation speak up against the proposed Ambler Road? 

It’s imperative because we are the primary witnesses to the impact that infrastructural development like the proposed Ambler Road has on our wildlife and public lands. Our identities as advocates and conservationists are rooted in our dependence on wildlife, which serves as our sustenance and a resource we are committed to preserving for the benefit of future generations and the health of the environment.

Billy Molls grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin dreaming of hunting and exploring Alaska. At 19, he answered the “call of the wild” and went north to make good on that dream. He’s spent the last two and a half decades guiding hunters across Alaska for everything from brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula to Dall sheep in the Brooks Range. Molls is also a film producer, author, public speaker, and hunting consultant. He has a deep appreciation for wild country and wildlife and has seen firsthand how good they are for the soul.

The Brooks Range is still, today, the wild Alaska that Molls grew up dreaming about. He calls it “The Last Frontier of the Last Frontier.” He believes the Brooks is a national treasure that needs to be kept the way it is. That’s why he’s against the proposed Ambler Road. If built, the project would stretch 211 miles along the southern flanks of the Brooks Range to support the development of an unknown number of foreign-owned mines — to the detriment of hunters, anglers, and every other person who dreams of experiencing wild places.

Here is his story.

Describe the types of activities you’ve enjoyed in the Brooks Range.

I’ve spent at least a month in the Brooks each year for 23 years guiding Dall sheep, grizzly, and caribou hunters.

Share one particular memory that stands out to you.

A new client was just dropped off. The Super Cub wasn’t even yet out of earshot when the hunter—who I’d known all of 4 minutes—blurted out, “It’s been eating me up inside that I’m having an affair on my wife!” Over the course of the hunt, he asked me for advice on how to best dissolve his marriage of more than 20 years. Knowing less about women and relationships than most rocks, I was reluctant to offer advice. What I did tell him was to utilize the time he had in the mountains away from all distractions—more specifically not to use my satellite telephone. He obliged.

Months later that hunter called me. He thanked me for a great adventure and for the advice. He said, “Before I left the Brooks Range, I knew I wanted to restore my marriage. Those 10 days changed my perspective 180 degrees.”

Think of your first trip to the Brooks – what was different than you expected?

My first trip to the Brooks was in 2000. Even by Alaska standards, it was untouched. I felt like I was the only person who’d ever been there.

What is most special about this place?

The wilderness immersion: It is pristine, untouched, with no man-made distraction. The Brooks Range is a national treasure that needs to be preserved and left wild.

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.

A book. My favorite is the Bible.

Please share a favorite hunting or fishing memory or story from your time in the Brooks Range.

After 17 days of hard hunting in snow, rain, wind, and you-name-it, my client finally connected on a 10-year-old Dall ram. Excited to cook ribs over the fire the following day, we woke up to a grizzly eating the meat. We managed to scare him off, but he came back. Fortunately, pilots were able to come shortly after. As we loaded the planes, the bear came back out to investigate. My client said, “Nothing comes easy in these mountains, does it?” I smiled and said, “Nope, and that’s exactly why we do it!”

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 Brooks Range is certainly one of the wildest places left on this planet. Road access would ruin the timelessness and wilderness experience of the Brooks Range. One’s value system, thoughts, experience, worldview, and life itself is changed in the Brooks Range because it is as God made it. Once that is compromised, there is no going back. We live in a consumptive society. Once the dam is broken, the flood will ensue.

I call the Brooks Range, “The Last Frontier of the Last Frontier.” The Brooks Range is arguably the wildest huntable wilderness in the United States. As hunters, if we lose this one, then nothing is safe.

Why is it important that hunters and anglers across the nation speak up against the proposed Ambler Road?

As hunters, we must unite to protect hunting opportunities in wild places. The Brooks Range exemplifies and still is the wild Alaska I grew up dreaming about. Corporate greed will never cease. But the Brooks Range is a place that dreams are made of for outdoorsmen. And, as I always say, a life without a dream is a nightmare.