Action Alert: Contact Representative Robyn Burke and Senator Donny Olson to tell them you're against the Ambler Road.
AIDEA, the state agency that wants to build the Ambler Road, has launched a full-scale attack to convince Alaskans that the Road is going through after all. They still don't have the permits. And the truth is, AIDEA still has a bad reputation for losing and wasting money and the Ambler Road is still a bad idea for our region.
State Legislators to Contact
Call or Email Representative Robyn Burke
907-465-3473
Representative.Robyn.Burke@akleg.gov
Call or Email Senator Donny Olson
907-465-3707
Senator.Donald.Olson@akleg.gov
You might be wondering, but what should I say in a letter?
Below is a sample letter that you are welcome to use as you contact our representatives. Be sure to make the letter your own by adding your name and location. In the body of the letter, you can add details and more impacts you are concerned that the Ambler Road would bring.
Dear [Name],
I'm writing today to let you know that I am against the Ambler Road.
The Bureau of Land Management published a supplemental environmental impact statement in April showing that the Ambler Road would be a food security disaster for 66 Native villages across Alaska that rely on the land for food and the continuation of their 10,000 year old culture. The Road and mines would affect the Western Arctic Caribou Herd migration and wintering grounds as well as habitat for salmon and sheefish. This comes at a time when climate change makes it clear to us that we need to protect what we have, not build an ecological disaster in the upper reaches of one of our nation's remaining pristine rivers.
AIDEA falsely claims that the Ambler Road is a matter of national security and preventing suicide in our region. But AIDEA hides the fact that any minerals removed from the Ambler Mining District would be shipped directly to China for processing, and then sold back to the US with a 125% tariff. AIDEA also ignores a lot of research that shows that strong culture, community and access to subsistence resources, not jobs in an industrial mine, are the answer to preventing suicide.
[describe your own connection to the region]
Thank you for your time and I hope that you will act quickly to stop AIDEA from pursuing the Ambler Road project.
[Name]