Copper mining access threatens Brooks

[adamkolesar]

This is very depressing for an already stressed Caribou population and the folks who hunt them...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/climate/ambler-access-project-road-alaska.html?unlocked_article_code=1.jU8.S3_8.ztENvtNzKbld&smid=url-share

 

[Wrhyne]

Doesn’t surprise me at all. Still terrible news.

 

[ThorM465]

As an outsider I find it hard to believe that the Alaskan ecosystem with 300 million plus uninhabited acres couldn't handle another road. It seems a bit absurd as I write this. What am I missing?

There are vast untapped federal natural resources in Alaska that I think we should be taking advantage off. Let me be absolutely clear that I'm not okay with strip mining operations that completely decimates the area and pumps toxins into the water system. Or any operations that have that affect. The standard should be leave it better than they found it, minus the earth metals and fossil fuels. I'm hard pressed to believe that there is not a reasonable position that allows us to preserve the ecosystem while accessing the resources.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I worked with the mining industry for 55 years. In every case, within two years the the wildlife population doubled and continued to grow. Why? Security because of the mine. Food because of the reclamation. I've seen 100 head of bedded elk chewing their cud while watching the haul trucks drive by.

I've seem bighorm sheep in the mine yard grazing on the lawn that just move out of the way to allow mining operations to continue. Most game co-exists with industry with more security than living on a ranch.

Get over this pollution crap. The arsenic limit by the epa is 5 parts per billion while the arsenic leaving yellowstone park is 785 parts per million. You have to look at the naturally existing geologic conditions. Selenium levels in central Montana are so high that imported cattle die when imported while local cattle have no problems. Horses die in western montana from lack of selenium due to geologic conditions. As I remember, zinc levels in the water of northeastern montana are two to three times the epa limit - naturally. Nothing dies.

I remember early in my career that the military provided the native popuation in notthern Alaska with guns and ammo to protect us from potential russian invasion. The result was they over killed the caribou. With massive amounts of food the wolves stayed longer and got snowed in. They then ate the hell out of the moose nearly destroying the population. There was a brief mention of this mess when I was in Alaska and then things got really quiet.

We suffer more from lack of inventory or knowledge. Often the government creates more problems than it solves. Don't let emotional management guide your insanity.

 

[mtmiller]

I ran your statements through AI. Interesting results.

 

[MThoundhunter]

How would this be detrimental to the Caribou? I keep reading this or ideas related to that line of thinking.

 

[cubdriver84d]

How would this be detrimental to the Caribou? I keep reading this or ideas related to that line of thinking.

Some info in these articles.

The Ambler Road Project Would Jeopardize One of the Last Great Wilderness Hunts in America

The proposed Ambler Road project wouldn't necessarily be the end of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, but it wouldn't do it any favors, either.

www.outdoorlife.com

Opinion: Ambler Road will affect declining caribou population in Northwest Alaska

Decades of caribou research show the proposed road would disrupt migration, fragment habitat and harm food security in rural Alaska.

www.adn.com

 

[EdP]

Just like the Trans Alaskan pipeline was going to destroy the environment and prevent Caribou migration. Predictions of calamity that never happened by folks that always oppose any development or progress.

 

[MThoundhunter]

Some info in these articles.

The Ambler Road Project Would Jeopardize One of the Last Great Wilderness Hunts in America

The proposed Ambler Road project wouldn't necessarily be the end of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, but it wouldn't do it any favors, either.

www.outdoorlife.com

Opinion: Ambler Road will affect declining caribou population in Northwest Alaska

Decades of caribou research show the proposed road would disrupt migration, fragment habitat and harm food security in rural Alaska.

www.adn.com

Appreciate the response, I feel those articles are pretty one sided. In the second article the biologist for 36 years never once mentions the dramatic swings in caribou populations that naturally occur. She then goes on with data about the red dog district from ONE winter to potray how the "road" affected their migration which had a negative impact. Maybe give me a 10 year study how a gravel road was the demise of a healthy thriving caribou population and I'll change my opinion. Btw how long has the haul road been around?

From my personal experience in AK, and the Brooks, I just feel like these articles you posted and others really aren't giving folks an accurate idea of the situation regarding the affects it would have on caribou.

 

[cubdriver84d]

Appreciate the response, I feel those articles are pretty one sided. In the second article the biologist for 36 years never once mentions the dramatic swings in caribou populations that naturally occur. She then goes on with data about the red dog district from ONE winter to potray how the "road" affected their migration which had a negative impact. Maybe give me a 10 year study how a gravel road was the demise of a healthy thriving caribou population and I'll change my opinion. Btw how long has the haul road been around?

From my personal experience in AK, and the Brooks, I just feel like these articles you posted and others really aren't giving folks an accurate idea of the situation regarding the affects it would have on caribou.

Jim Dau is the biologist in both articles. There are links to other research using more data in the articles. If you want to take a deep dive, the western arctic caribou herd meeting packets and summaries are a good place to start: https://westernarcticcaribou.net/contactalaska-fish-game/links/

There are some key differences between the proposed Ambler road and the Dalton noted in the OL article: "While proponents of Ambler often point to the Dalton Highway as an example of how roads and caribou can coexist, it’s a less useful comparison than the Red Dog road. While caribou do indeed seek refuge from insects on roads, usually in July, says Dau, those same animals avoid those roads in June. Meanwhile, the Dalton Highway runs north-south; the Ambler Road would run east-west at the bottom of the Western Arctic Herd’s winter range, intersecting a much broader swath of migratory routes."

 

[TopherDave]

I agree that the road may provide some security/protection. When you drive the Al-Can you see heaps of caribou, moose, elk, bear, bison, sheep, and even the odd wolf hunting! Any person in the right mindset can agree that we do need these minerals and resources. What happens after we strip it of the “fluff” and leave all the hard to get stuff? Do they just pull out like they did at Kennicot? How about Nebesna? Even the north slope and pipe line is dewindling.

I’ve hunted moose around Zama City Alberta and it’s pretty sad to see the old footprint of the oil wells up there. The roads and pads. When they demobilized out of there they ripped out the culverts, you can hard get an ATV back in there. It’s the Chernobyl of oilfields IMO.

It’s not the mining I have a problem with but it’s all the outsiders just stripping Alaska of her resources and don’t really care about her. Most of that money leaves the state. The resources sure do.