Now is the time to stand up for rural, Indigenous communities in Northwest Alaska.

On October 13th, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a new supplemental Environmental Impact Statement examining the negative impacts of the proposed Ambler Road. This project threatens clean water, Indigenous communities, fisheries, National Parks, and the critical Western Arctic caribou herd.

The Biden Administration and the BLM have the authority to shut this project down and protect this region. We’re asking you to join us in calling on them to use this authority

Please support Indigenous communities, advocate for clean water and wild landscapes, and urge them to select the “No Action Alternative.”

HOW TO SUBMIT A “SUBSTANTIVE” COMMENT:

The Bureau of Land Management is required to include all “substantive” comments in the appendix of the final SEIS document. Submitting comments that are classified as substantive is crucial to making our voices heard. If you have the time to submit a more substantive comment, please do so at this link.

Qualities of a substantive comment:

• Suggests a specific route of action – there are three listed in the statement.
• References document pages, chapters or sections and uses objective information.
• Uses facts to question the adequacy, accuracy, methodology, or assumptions of the analysis.
• Presents traditional or ecological knowledge.
• Proposes a reasonable new alternative orrevision to the alternatives presented.
• Identifies a passage in the document thatis unclear.

Tips for making a substantive comment:

• Include any knowledge, experience or evidence as it relates to your observations and comments.
• Provide GPS readings or landmarks, if possible, when referring to specific locations.
• Present new information.
• Share issues relevant to the environmental analysis.
• Suggest alternatives to the proposed project and the reason(s) why they should be considered.
• Avoid comments like “I don’t like this” or “I do like this”.
• Remember that identical comments are treated as one comment, including form letters.

We have taken the time to provide you with a number of prompts to assist you in meeting these criteria. If you want to make a substantive comment, please click this link and head over to the BLM page to do so. We encourage this step if you have the time.

Click here for a detailed list of substantive comment ideas and prompts. Make sure to say you support the “No Action Alternative”— this can be your first statement before you get into why you oppose the road.

If you don’t want to make a substantive comment, please sign this form below.