The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) Board will meet Wednesday, August 26, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The meeting includes a vote on up to $25 million in additional funding for the West Susitna Access Road, updates on several major AIDEA projects, financial reports, and a broad executive session covering projects including the Ambler Access Project, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, West Susitna Access Road and Ketchikan Shipyard.
Written comments are due to AIDEA by 4:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, August 25.
Because AIDEA does not routinely publish the written comments it receives with its meeting materials, please CC klapp@northern.org when submitting your comment if you would like your participation to count as an engagement toward your Northern Alaska Environmental Center membership.
How to submit written comments
Email written comments to: Communications@aidea.org
AIDEA states that comments received by the deadline will be shared with Board members before the meeting. Members of the public can also testify during the meeting. To participate by phone, call 1-719-359-4580 and enter Webinar ID 82870931173. Callers enter muted. After roll call and agenda approval, AIDEA will ask people wishing to testify to press *9 to raise their hand.
The meeting can also be joined by Zoom: https://aidea-org.zoom.us/j/82870931173
AIDEA advises the public to check aidea.org for any updates to the meeting start time.
What are the documents in the Board packet?
AIDEA has released several documents ahead of Wednesday’s meeting. Some are informational reports, while one asks the Board to authorize a significant new expenditure.
Resolution G26-09: $25 million for the West Susitna Access Road
The most significant action item is Resolution G26-09, which would authorize AIDEA to spend up to $25 million from its Revolving Fund Economic Development Account for additional predevelopment work on the proposed West Susitna Access Road.
The money would pay for geotechnical drilling and related permitting, hydrology, engineering and access work. According to AIDEA’s accompanying memorandum, the proposed investigation would examine:
- 10 proposed bridge locations
- 4 proposed trail overcrossings
- 17 proposed material sites
- 7 locations requiring culverts greater than 19 feet in diameter
AIDEA estimates the work at approximately 448 drilling days, with crews and drill rigs moved between sites by longline helicopter.
The approximately $25 million request includes $18.65 million for the ADOT&PF geotechnical investigation, $1.75 million for permitting and hydrology work, $1 million for trail improvements, $500,000 for preliminary bridge design and alignment work, $1 million for potential Whiskey Bravo runway improvements, $1 million for project consultants, and about $1.1 million in unallocated funding. AIDEA says the project is intended to provide access to mineral and energy prospects including Nova Minerals’ Estelle project, U.S. GoldMining’s Whistler prospect and Terra Energy’s coal project, as well as public access to state lands west of the Susitna River. This resolution is a Board action item, meaning public comments submitted today can directly address whether the Board should approve, modify or reject the proposed $25 million authorization.
AIDEA Project Fact Sheets
The Board packet also contains a new 17-page collection of AIDEA Project Fact Sheets ( 8._C_AIDEA_Project_Fact_Sheets_08262026.pdf ) dated August 2026. These are AIDEA’s own summaries of projects and investments and should be read as the agency’s presentation of those projects rather than independent evaluations. Projects covered include the Ambler Access Project, Interior Energy Project, Ketchikan Shipyard, Red Dog Mine transportation infrastructure, Alyeschem North Slope chemical and fuels facility, Blood Bank of Alaska and AIDEA’s Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain leases, among others. For example, the Ambler fact sheet says AIDEA’s Board has approved up to $103 million for the Ambler Access Project and describes current fieldwork including drilling, water-crossing investigations and fish habitat surveys The Arctic Refuge fact sheet states that AIDEA now holds nine leases totaling more than 345,000 acres and notes that the Board authorized up to $190 million in May for seismic work and additional lease bidding.
Loan Dashboard Report
The Loan Dashboard Report is AIDEA’s financial snapshot of its loan programs and participation portfolio. As of June 30, the AIDEA Revolving Fund reported an ending loan balance of approximately $340.75 million and fiscal-year interest earnings of approximately $13.9 million. The report also breaks the portfolio down by geography and industry. About 42% of participation-loan balances were in Anchorage, 22.5% in Mat-Su, 15.5% in Southeast and 7.7% in the Interior, with smaller portions elsewhere in the state.
Division of Investments statistics
A separate one-page report provides statistics for loans AIDEA services through small-business and rural-development programs. As of June 30, those programs included 71 outstanding loans with approximately $14.8 million in principal outstanding. The report shows no loans classified as delinquent or in foreclosure at that time. The same report lists approximately $9.56 million available for additional lending after accounting for commitments, applications and other encumbered funds.
Alaska Resource Education presentation
The Board will also hear a presentation from Alaska Resource Education (ARE). ARE describes its mission as educating students about Alaska’s natural resources and its vision as empowering students to become informed stewards of those resources. Its programs include K-12 classroom visits, youth programs and teacher training, with curriculum covering mining, energy, oil and gas, forestry, economics and natural-resource careers. The presentation reports that ARE reached 12,127 students and 132 teachers in 2025, and more than 49,000 students in 75 communities between 2021 and 2025.
Executive session
The Board agenda also includes an executive session covering confidential and deliberative matters related to AIDEA finances and investments, AIDEA bylaws, ANWR, the Ambler project, West Susitna Access, the Ketchikan Shipyard and other projects, as well as attorney-client privileged matters. Because much of that discussion will take place outside public view, the public-comment period before the executive session is one of the principal opportunities for Alaskans to put concerns, questions or support on the record.
A red-throated loon. Photo by Ken Madsen