Biden administration blocks Alaska industrial road to protect the environment

President Joe Biden said Friday his administration is stopping the Ambler Road project in a pristine area of Alaska and also blocking oil and gas drilling in 28 million acres of Alaska wilderness to protect natural wonders.

June 28 (UPI) -- On Friday the Biden administration's Interior Department blocked construction of the 211-mile Ambler Road as it acted to protect 28 million acres of Alaska ecosystem from oil and gas drilling and mining.

"Today, my administration is stopping a 211-mile road from carving up a pristine area that Alaska Native communities rely on, in addition to steps we are taking to maintain protections on 28 million acres in Alaska from mining and drilling. These natural wonders demand our protection," President Joe Biden said in a statement.

The road would have gone through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. It would have been used to get to copper and zinc deposits worth an estimated $7.5 billion.

In the Ambler Road Record of Decision released Friday, the Bureau of Land Management said "the construction and operation of the Ambler Road may cause significant restrictions on subsistence uses for 34 communities spread across a broad region of Alaska, regardless of reasonable steps that could be taken to minimize such adverse impacts on subsistence uses and resources."

The BLM said it preferred the "no action alternative" on the Ambler Road project because any of the action alternatives "would significantly impact resources, including important subsistence resources and uses, in ways that cannot be adequately mitigated."

Ambler Metals reacted with a statement saying they would explore all legal, legislative and regulatory means to try to force construction of the road.

In April when the BLM released its final environmental impact statement on the project the company said in a statement, "We are deeply disappointed by the Bureau of Land Management's politically motivated decision to block construction of the Ambler Access Project."

The company alleged the decision deprives the region of thousands of good-paying jobs and millions of dollars of badly needed tax revenues and economic investment.

Biden's action reverses the Trump administration's support for the project.

The BLM said sound management of land resources means thoughtful development in the right places to drive economic opportunities for local communities, but it also means "protecting natural, cultural, and historical resources and existing community uses."

The Biden administration said rejecting the road would protect at-risk wildlife, including the Western Arctic caribou herd. Those resources are used as a critical food source for Native communities in the region.