Photo of the Ambler Corridor provided by Keri Oberly.
Seven conservation organizations are challenging the State of Alaska’s decision to grant an easement for the proposed Ambler industrial road, arguing that the state failed to fully consider the impacts of the project or protect the public interest.
On September 30, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and six partner organizations filed an appeal in Alaska Superior Court challenging the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ approval of a state-land easement for the proposed Ambler Road.
The appeal argues that DNR violated its responsibilities under the Alaska Constitution by approving the easement without adequately considering the full impacts of the project on Alaska’s lands, waters, wildlife, subsistence resources, public access, and communities. The groups also argue that the state failed to provide Alaskans with essential information needed to meaningfully participate during the public comment process.
“A project this large affects public lands, rivers, fish, subsistence, access, and communities across the region, and any decision must fully look at the entire project and all the impacts,” said Krystal Lapp, interim executive director of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. “Alaskans should have meaningful information before decisions this big are made about public lands and resources. We deserve more than a decision that puts narrow economic interests before the interest of all Alaskans.”
What is being challenged?
The Ambler Road is a proposed 211-mile, controlled-access industrial road stretching west from the Dalton Highway toward the Ambler Mining District. According to the State of Alaska, the road is intended to facilitate mine development and the transportation of ore and would be restricted to approved commercial uses rather than being open as a public highway.
A substantial portion of the proposed route would cross state lands, requiring an easement from DNR.
DNR first approved that easement in April 2025. Conservation groups sought reconsideration, arguing that the decision failed to meet the requirements of the Alaska Constitution. DNR reapproved the easement in November 2025, but later withdrew that decision following an Alaska Supreme Court ruling reiterating the state’s constitutional obligations when evaluating uses of Alaska’s natural resources.
In early September 2026, DNR again approved the easement. The appeal filed this week challenges that latest decision.
Why the whole project should be considered
One of the central issues raised by the appeal is whether the state can evaluate its portion of the road without adequately considering what the entire Ambler Road would make possible.
The route would cross a vast network of rivers and streams and important wildlife habitat in the southern Brooks Range. It would also pass through Gates of the Arctic National Preserve and areas used for hunting, fishing, travel, and subsistence by communities throughout the region.
For communities that depend on these lands and waters, decisions about the road can have consequences far beyond the physical footprint of the gravel corridor itself.
That is why a meaningful public-interest review must examine the full project and the development it would enable, rather than treating individual permits and stretches of the road as separate decisions.
Alaska’s Constitution requires more
Alaska’s Constitution establishes an unusually strong public-interest standard for management of the state’s natural resources, including the principle that resources are to be developed, used, and conserved for the maximum benefit of Alaska’s people.
The organizations bringing this case argue that DNR did not meet that obligation when it approved the Ambler Road easement.
The state itself acknowledges that the proposed road would be a private, controlled-access industrial route. DNR’s project materials describe an easement across state lands as part of the larger road extending from the Dalton Highway toward the Ambler Mining District.
When public lands are being committed to a project of this scale, Alaskans deserve a transparent process that accounts for the consequences to the public as a whole.
Standing together for the Brooks Range
The Northern Center is represented by Trustees for Alaska alongside six other organizations:
Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, and Winter Wildlands Alliance.
This legal challenge is also part of a much broader effort to protect the lands, waters, wildlife, and communities of the Brooks Range. Numerous communities in the region have voiced opposition to the road and raised concerns about impacts to caribou, water, hunting, fishing, subsistence, and traditional activities.
The question at the heart of this case is bigger than one easement.
When the State of Alaska makes decisions about public lands and resources, it must consider the full consequences of those decisions and the interests of all Alaskans.
The Northern Center will continue working alongside communities and partners to demand a transparent process, meaningful public participation, and decisions that protect the lands and waters that sustain Alaska.
Stay connected with the Northern Center for updates as this case moves forward and for opportunities to speak up for the Brooks Range and the communities that depend on it.
Media Contact:
Krystal Lapp, Interim Executive Director, klapp@northern.org