This letter is written on behalf of Doyon, Limited in response to the Friday, June 24, letter to the editor regarding Ambler Road by Adeline Raboff. We write to correct the record. In Raboff’s letter, she writes that Doyon, Limited is “committed to a road from Mile 221 Haul Road to Ambler, Alaska.”
Doyon does not support the road to Ambler and has never offered a public (or private) statement of support. While we also do not oppose the road to Ambler, we have offered sometimes pointed criticism of both the project and its proponents in public comments. You can find some of our comments at the following links:
• http://www.akleg.gov/basis/get_documents.asp?session=30&docid=55058
We are also significant stakeholders in the process and will continue to be engaged and vocal.
The irony of Raboff’s criticism of Doyon is that we agree with the main point of her letter. We also recommended to the Bureau of Land Management that they consider and evaluate a route from the Ambler Mining District westward to Nome, a route that would not require use of Doyon lands. You can find that recommendation on the first page of the document in the first link, and on the second page of the second document in the link, above. Doyon believed that the BLM should evaluate an alternative route based on the Corps’ ongoing study of a deep-water port in Nome, and that benefits of a western route should be more closely analyzed.
Throughout the permitting process, Doyon raised issues related to the potential for the road to be made public, impacts to ANCSA corporations and ANCSA lands, benefits to communities in the Doyon region, and impacts to subsistence resources. Doyon continues to participate as ex-officio members of the Ambler project’s workforce development and subsistence committees; to ensure impacts to our region and communities are considered and addressed.
Sarah E. Obed
Senior VP, External Affairs for Doyon, Limited