The NANA Regional Corp. office in downtown Anchorage is seen on Wednesday. The Native corporation, citing dissatisfaction with management by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, is ending its involvement with the Ambler Access Project. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The regional corporation owned by the Iñupiat people of Northwest Alaska said Wednesday it is severing its ties to the Ambler Access Project , the controversial road that a state agency proposes to build through the Brooks Range foothills to allow commercial mining in an isolated Arctic area.
NANA Regional Corp., based in Kotzebue, said it will not renew a land-use permit for the project that it granted to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. AIDEA is the state-owned corporation that is seeking to build the 211-mile road through to the Ambler Mining District, the site of deposits of copper and other valuable metals. The land-use permit, which has a three-year duration, will expire this year, NANA said in its statement.