Today the Department of Interior announced it would overturn Public Land Orders 5150 and 5180, ending more than half a century of public land protection in Northeast Alaska. The action could lead to the transfer of 2.1 million acres of federal public lands in Alaska, including those targeted for the harmful proposed Ambler industrial mining road. 

Members of the Defend the Brooks Range coalition oppose this revocation, as the State of Alaska has clearly expressed its desire to open these lands to industrial development, despite widespread local and national opposition. 

The administration’s stated intention in revoking Public Land Orders (PLO) 5150 and 5180 is to allow the state of Alaska to obtain more than two million acres of public land in the Dalton Utility Corridor, located north of the Yukon River, for the purposes of building the Ambler Road. Revoking the orders also ends federal rural subsistence priority protections that are critical to Alaska Natives and others living in this remote, largely roadless region.

The Defend the Brooks Range coalition rejects today’s harmful action as the latest step in this administration’s attempts to ignore the needs of Alaska communities and force the Ambler mining road forward. 

Responses from Members of the Defend the Brooks Range Coalition

 “As small business owners and full-time residents of Wiseman, Alaska, within the boundary of Public Land Order 5150, we depend on the protection this order provides. Its removal threatens the cultural and historical integrity of Wiseman and the viability of many small, locally operated businesses like ours. We rely on the land’s natural character, clean water, and remote values. Maintaining PLO 5150 ensures that businesses can continue to thrive responsibly while honoring the broad public purpose these lands were set aside to serve.”
– Mollie and Sean Busby, co-owners of Arctic Hive

“My main concern is loss of federal subsistence priority on 2.1 acres of the BLM lands in the utility corridor, not only for these communities, Wiseman and Coldfoot, but also the other communities that utilize these lands: Anaktuvuk, Nuiqsut, Stevens Village, Rampart, Allakaket, and Alatna. Three different regions are affected by this action. If the BLM was to convey all these lands to the State of Alaska there would be a complete loss of subsistence priority.” – Jack Reakoff, Wiseman resident, West Int Regional Federal Subsistence Advisory Council Chair, Koyukuk River Advisory Committee to State of Alaska, Gates of the Arctic Subsistence Resource Commission

“Revoking PLO 5150 would be a betrayal of our people, stripping protections from our lands and rivers — and opening the door to resource extraction on territory. We will continue to fight for the protection of our way of life. We cannot allow anyone to destroy our land and resources. Our ancestors taught us how to take care of our land and everything it provides for us. Our future is at stake for our children and their children.”  – Chief Julie Roberts-Hyslop, Tanana

“The abandonment of land protections along the Dalton Highway will speed the decline of local animal populations and encourage more wanton waste of our natural resources. Now we must add “intelligent land use practices” to the list of extinct species in Alaska.” – John Gaedeke, owner of Iniakuk Lake Wilderness Lodge 

“PLO 5150 lands are some of the most accessible and fruitful caribou hunting areas for Alaskan residents and nonresident recreational hunters. These hunting opportunities are especially important when considering recent downturns in population and more limited hunting occurring in other parts of Alaska, like the Fortymile and Nelchina herds  Additionally, these PL 5150 lands offer world-class DIY fishing access for Dolly Varden, Arctic grayling, and Lake trout, drawing anglers from every economic background. These areas were deemed so important to recreationists that they were designated as “Backcountry Conservation Areas” in the 2024 Central Yukon Final Resource Management Plan produced by the BLM. If PL 5150 is revoked, hunters and anglers could find fences and controlled access areas springing up in places along the Dalton Highway where they were once able to pursue game or wet a line. It is important for outdoor recreationists to rally together to maintain the proper management and access to these lands, otherwise our few road-accessible Brooks Range gems may be leased, degraded, and sold off to private interests. – Kevin Fraley, Alaska resident, fisheries ecologist, Brooks Range hunter and fisherman.

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