Newsletter 21 - October 2026

We were all caught by surprise when it was announced that the Commissioner of Fish and Game called a special meeting of the Board of Game during the middle of the summer for the main purpose of considering a Proposal from the Department of Fish & Game (Department) to impose a no-hunting corridor along the entire proposed (and private) Ambler Road.   

​

Advisory Committees don’t meet then and the public at large was out enjoying the too-short Alaska summer. Calling a special meeting in July seemed crazy. 

​

So, what the heck was this all about? 

​

Unbeknownst to the public, a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the state, federal agencies, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Native corporation landowners, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), and Ambler Metals LLC, had previously been agreed to that stated: “The Parties agree to work with the Commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game or his designee to present and support a proposal to the Board of Game to prohibit hunting and fishing in a two-mile-wide buffer area along the entire length of the Ambler Road as a controlled use area or other appropriate designation. The buffer would extend one mile on each side of the centerline of the Ambler Road and all associated bridges.”

​

It appears that the Native corporations were concerned about hunting right along the proposed road and they wanted to ensure it wasn’t allowed, even though the proposed road would be private and most of the land the road would go through is state land. 

​

Somehow, they got the administration to agree and the Commissioner was told to get it done, which is how we ended up with a July Board of Game meeting and a proposal from the Department to close hunting down one mile either side of a proposed private road that may or may not ever be built, with absolutely no conservation or biological concerns to back up such a closure. Talk about the cart before the horse! 

​

​

​

​

​

RHAK Executive Director Mark Richards summed up what was going on when he testified for RHAK:

​

“We don’t normally see the Department submitting proposals (and out-of-cycle to boot!) to shut down hunting and trapping in areas where they have no biological or conservation concerns. Neither do we see the board pass such proposals that aren’t based on real biological or conservation concerns. 

​

The Department and the board are clearly the scapegoats in all this, being asked – rather, told – by the administration to shut down future hunting and trapping opportunities along a proposed private industrial road because without this corridor closure, the administration says the road will never be approved and built. 

​

This is politics posing as wildlife management, clearly outside the bounds of how the Department and Board of Game are supposed to operate and it is truly sad to see things go this far. Plus, think about what this proposal supposes …that we can’t have resource development without a prior agreement from the Board of Game to shut down hunting and trapping along a private industrial access road to those resources. That’s certainly not what our state constitution intended, and such a quid pro quo is outlandish.”

​

During deliberations on the proposal, it was clear that it did not have the votes to pass. None of the board members seemed happy about how this all came about and were aware of the precedent passing such a proposal would set. There was near-zero support from Advisory Committees and the public, with most saying to either vote the proposal down or take no action on it.
 
The board ended up deferring the proposal to the 2027 January meeting in Kotzebue, knowing we would have a new Governor and Commissioner then. We have a feeling, though, that we may see more pressure put on the board and Department to get something through before the next Governor takes office. Stay tuned.