** BLM paves the way for mining road through Alaska national preserve
------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, July 24, 2020
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Photo by NPS / Zak Richter ([link removed])
On Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management approved ([link removed]) the controversial Ambler Road Project that will route a 211-mile private access road through Alaska's Gates of the Arctic National Preserve.
The proponent ([link removed]) of the road is Ambler Metals LLC, a subsidiary of the Canadian company, Trilogy Metals, Inc. The company hired Interior Secretary David Bernhardt's former law firm ([link removed]) , Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to lobby for the project. The road will provide access ([link removed]) to copper and other mineral deposits. The company claims the shortest route for accessing and hauling the mined materials is through the national preserve.
Opponents ([link removed]) of the road object to routing it through a national preserve and disturbing 4,500 acres in the process, as well as potential impacts to subsistence hunters and caribou migration routes. Erica Watson with the Northern Alaska Environmental Center said ([link removed]) of the BLM's decision, “The impacts to the region’s water, food, and cultural sovereignty are unacceptable. Alaska’s wealth is in our lands, waters, and people, and we will not allow the state to trade that wealth for multinational companies’ profit.”
** Trump administration expected to approve Alaska's proposed Pebble Mine today
------------------------------------------------------------
The Trump administration is expected ([link removed]) to conclude that a proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska will not cause environmental harm, reversing the decision made by the Obama administration that the proposed mine poses potentially irreversible environmental risks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to declare ([link removed]) that the Pebble Mine “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers” in the Bristol Bay watershed, which supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery ([link removed]) .
Quick hits
** Opinion: Why America needs the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature now more than ever
------------------------------------------------------------
Patagonia ([link removed])
** BLM paves the way for mining access road through Alaska national preserve
------------------------------------------------------------
KOTZ ([link removed]) | Bloomberg Law ([link removed])
** Trump administration expected to green light massive gold and copper mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed
------------------------------------------------------------
Washington Post ([link removed])
** Parks and public lands are being damaged by hoards of visitors seeking respite from covid-19 restrictions
------------------------------------------------------------
Time ([link removed])
** Trump administration transfers federal water infrastructure to David Bernhardt's former California water client
------------------------------------------------------------
E&E News ([link removed])
** More Coloradans have been taking up fishing during the pandemic
------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])
** Senators admonish Interior Secretary David Bernhardt for not wearing a mask while meeting with tribal leaders
------------------------------------------------------------
Huffington Post ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed])
** Opinion: Noncompetitive oil and gas leasing threatens to take Nevada's public lands out of public hands
------------------------------------------------------------
Nevada Independent ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Young people and people of color, especially, are leading a powerful and justice-driven environmental movement—a movement that looks like America. We need to pay attention to these voices of Black and Indigenous people and people of color, as well as younger generations that have the most at stake, to deliver lasting progress."
—U.S. Senator Tom Udall ([link removed]) of New Mexico
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
“At the lake, every hour is happy hour.” – Unknown
Pic of a view from Lily Lake @RockyNPS ([link removed]) by Jose Torres ([link removed] ([link removed]) ) #Colorado ([link removed])
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2020 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.
Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
