Status Update: The Ambler Industrial Road
Maintaining our most wild and remote hunting and fishing grounds
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.
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.
What Can You Do? Join Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range today to stay abreast of the latest campaign news and to make your voice heard.
