NANA Regional Corporation urges timely evaluation process of the Ambler Access Project

Kotzebue, Alaska – In response to the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) announcement that it is delayed in completing the Ambler Access Project (AAP) supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) and joint record of decision by six months, NANA’s President and CEO John Lincoln stated, “NANA has a responsibility to protect and advance the Iñupiaq way of life, which in today’s world includes both traditional subsistence activities and a cash-based economy. We urge the Department of the Interior to complete the SEIS in a timely manner and not drag this process out. The results of the SEIS are needed to inform our board’s decision making about this potential project.”

NANA was anticipating the results of the SEIS and the work occurring under the Joint Record of Decision to support evaluation of the benefits, risks and costs of the road which will inform NANA’s decisions regarding the proposed road.

NANA has consistently urged the DOI to engage in a robust Tribal consultation and public process that listens first and foremost to the people of northern Alaska whose homelands and lives the road would touch directly. NANA reiterates its encouragement that DOI engage with the communities, Tribes, and Alaska Native corporations as it continues its work.

NANA is an Alaska Native corporation formed as a result of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which was passed by Congress in 1971. NANA is owned by the more than 15,000 Iñupiat shareholders who live in or have roots in northwest Alaska. Iñupiat have close ties to the land and to each other. The word Iñupiat means “real people” in our language.