The hearing begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Raven Landing community center on Cowles Street in Fairbanks. Participants will be invited to take the mic, or to comment in writing.
The Ambler project is planned as a 211- mile industrial mining road from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District. It would skirt the southern flanks of the Brooks Range to the south bank of the Ambler River. Some villages near the proposed route have opposed the project, saying it will impact subsistence opportunities, including hunting the Western Arctic Caribou herd. Others say it is an opportunity for construction and mining jobs.
The hearing is required under federal laws -- the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Alaska National Interest Conservation Act, or ANILCA. Especially if an action may have a significant restriction on subsistence uses, the Bureau of Land Management is required to collect comments on the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
A link to the draft SEIS is available on the BLM website. The comment period ends on December 22. After the Fairbanks hearing Thursday evening, BLM will host public ANILCA hearings in Kiana and Kotzebue next week, and other impacted villages later this month.