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The Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, where the Ambler Road project would pass through, is visible from Ambler, Alaska, on Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag) <\/p>\nThe Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, where the Ambler Road project would pass through, is visible from Ambler, Alaska, on Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag) <\/p>\n
A federal judge last week rejected a bid by conservation groups to stop the Trump administration from conveying land to Alaska to support development of the 200-mile Ambler Road that could open up access for mining in a remote Arctic region.<\/p>\n
Alaska U.S. District Judge Aaron Peterson on Friday dismissed<\/a> portions of the lawsuit, denying the request for a preliminary injunction and removing a legal cloud over the 1.4-million-acre land transfer, tentatively approved by the Interior Department in May<\/a>. <\/p>\n The state has said the land transfer could also support the proposed Alaska LNG megaproject that seeks to deliver North Slope gas to Asian countries and Alaskans. Conservation groups argue that state control of the land removes federal protections for subsistence hunting and reduce environmental safeguards as mining takes place and projects are developed. <\/p>\n The land<\/a> lies along the Dalton Highway near Coldfoot north of the Yukon River, where part of the the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline passes. It\u2019s part of the Dalton Utility Corridor and includes the route that would host the Alaska LNG pipeline, if it is built.<\/p>\n \u201cAlaska has fought hard to secure access to the lands that were promised to us at Statehood,\u201d Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement Friday. \u201cI am glad to see this land finally returning to Alaska\u2019s control, and I am thankful for the tireless efforts of Alaskans who made it possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Alaska had selected the lands under the Statehood Act, but they were withdrawn by the federal government for more than 50 years. Interior removed the withdrawals for the land earlier this year, and the agency began taking steps to convey the lands to the state.<\/p>\n Trustees for Alaska filed<\/a> the case in March on behalf of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and nine other groups. The groups argued that the transfer violates laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act. <\/p>\n They said that removing federal oversight would open the land to mining claims, road-building and industrial activities, threatening clean water, wildlife habitat and subsistence resources.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s<\/a> controversial Ambler Road proposal would extend a gravel corridor west<\/a> through wilderness from the Dalton corridor. It\u2019s designed to open a mining district containing copper, zinc, lead and other minerals considered critical<\/a> by the federal government for their economic and defense value. <\/p>\n