by Wil Courtney
Several major Alaskan milestones the Trump administration has described as "unleashing Alaskan energy dominance," were announced Thursday morning at an "Alaska Day" event in the nation's capital, featuring Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and the entire congressional delegation.
"For too long, many politicians and policymakers in DC treated Alaska like it was some kind of zoo or reserve, and that somehow by not empowering people or having even the slightest ability to tap into the vast resources was somehow good for the country or good for Alaska," Burgum said with the delegation and governor behind him in his office.
Among the items announced, the Trump administration finalized permits for the Ambler Road, advanced the King Cove Road agreement, enabled lease sales in ANWR, and signed land allotments for Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans.
The announcements reverse multiple Biden administration decisions and fulfill priorities long sought by Alaska's Republican leadership and industry supporters.
"This has been a monumental week for Alaska," said House Minority Leader Rep. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage.
"From honoring our Native veterans to unlocking long-delayed infrastructure and energy opportunities, these actions are about putting Alaskans to work and ensuring our future is built right here at home."
Environmental groups have historically challenged Alaska energy projects in federal court.
There were no references to the Alaska LNG pipeline, and Dunleavy mentioned the impact of former Typhoon Halong once, remarking how the president spoke with him late in the night while evacuees from the storm were being flown into Anchorage.
A spokesperson for the interior department told Alaska's News Source Thursday morning reporters would not be able to ask questions during the conference.
"Here's to Alaska's future," Burgum said, wrapping up the conference.
Ambler Road lease finalization
"Secretary," Alaska Oil and Gas Association President and CEO Kara Moriarty said to Burgum, "this document signifies that President Trump's presidential appeal for Ambler has been fulfilled in the reissuance of three right-of-way permits."
With the secretary's signature, another major milestone from the Trump administration was reached to create a 211-mile road from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining district.
"Ambler Road will help secure domestic supply chains," Burgum said. "It's going to provide eventually thousands of great-paying jobs, and it's going to strengthen our energy independence."
In September, Congress voted to officially reject a Biden-era rule preventing the road's building.
That rule put 13 million acres of Alaska land under enhanced protections in November 2024, according to Pew. The rule was designed to "balance conservation and other uses on lands and waters that 20 sovereign Tribes have used for hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural practices for centuries."
With the rule rejected and final permits approved, the Ambler Road is moving closer to being built, but in its way are still 88 Alaska Native Tribes who oppose the decision.
"Thousands of Alaskans and dozens of Tribes in the region have been crystal clear about saying ‘NO' to the Ambler Road in the interest of protecting this wild Alaska landscape – the Brooks Range, the Koyokon and Kobuk rivers, and the thousands of tributaries the road would cross – for future generations," Alaska Senior Manager for the Wilderness Society Matt Jackson stated in a press release.
"Our grandchildren deserve the same freedom to hunt for caribou, fish for salmon, and experience wilderness that we've received. We don't want this road, and we oppose these rights of way."
ANWR Lease Sales
The Trump Administration is one step closer to "Drill, baby, drill," after Burgum put pen to paper and signed the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain Record of Decision, a move that Moriarty said reopens "the entire coastal plain for oil and gas leasing."
ANWR's coastal plain covers over 1.5 million acres, according to BLM, which Burgum said he now hopes the private sector will take advantage of.
"This land should and will be supporting responsible oil and gas leasing," Burgum said.
Opening ANWR and the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska have been the Trump administration's objectives since returning to office in January.
In March, the administration announced the intention to drill in the regions, which now appear closer to reality.
The Interior Department argues reopening the region "plays a critical role in strengthening national energy security," it said in a press release.
"This is a win for common sense," Dunleavy said in the conference, speaking on the entirety of the items accomplished in the conference. "This is a win for opportunity, not just for the state of Alaska, but for the country."
Environmental activists and some Alaska Native groups say the move, similar to arguments against Ambler Road, jeopardizes wildlife which supports the region.
"This decision is a direct attack on the Gwich'in, Iñupiaq, and all Indigenous peoples who have lived in deep relationship with the Arctic since time immemorial," Alaska Senior Manager for the Wilderness Society Meda DeWitt said in a press release. "Once again, this administration is placing corporate interests above the lives, cultures and spiritual responsibilities of the people whose survival depends on the Porcupine Caribou Herd, the freedom to live from this land and the health of the Arctic Refuge."
King Cove Road agreement
In a decision that the delegation and Burgum said will save lives, the Trump administration is pushing forward with the creation of an 11-mile gravel road connecting King Cove to the Cold Bay airport, according to a press release from the governor's office.
"Residents of King Cove have faced life-threatening challenges in this beautiful place where they live, trying to reach the medical care and the runway in Cold Bay," the interior secretary said.
Burgum said an estimated 26 people have died in plane crashes while trying to be medically evacuated in King Cove, which has a 3,500-foot gravel runway, while neighboring Cold Bay has a 10,000-foot all-weather runway left over from World War II.
The congressional delegation also praised the effort.
"The last administration, the Biden administration, put the lives of birds over the lives of people," Sullivan said. "That ends today."
To some Alaska Native groups, those "birds" are more than just that.
Izembek is home to vulnerable migratory species like the Pacific black brant, emperor geese and endangered Steller's eider, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Those species, which rely on Izembek's eelgrass, are a key part of life for the native village of Hooper Bay.
"We need the brant and emperor geese because they're nutritious and fatty from feeding in Izembek," Hooper Bay Chief Edgar Tall Sr. said in a press release. "Our people hunt these birds together so we can learn from each other and teach our children how to hunt and take care of the land.
"If the birds disappear because of the Izembek road, our community could disappear too. I just want the government to know that, but they don't listen us."
Land allotments for Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans
One hundred and sixty acres of land were allotted to three Vietnam-era veterans in what the delegation has called a promise overdue.
"While serving their country during the Vietnam War era, many Alaska Native veterans missed the deadline to apply for their legally entitled land allotment—an injustice that we are still working to fix nearly 70 years later," Sullivan said in a March press release, describing the Murkowski-Sullivan provision in the passed 2019 lands package.
"That was a promise that was made that has been decades in coming," Murkowski said. " Those honored and treasured veterans are not getting any younger so they see this slipping away and finally, for a few of them, they're seeing that reality come to bear. "
The names of the veterans were not disclosed "as a matter of privacy," Burgum said.
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