Alaska state agency signs agreement with Alaska Native corporations

A newly signed agreement related to the proposed Ambler Road in Alaska calls for preferential contracting with Alaska Native corporations and describes the project as a “private, controlled-access road” with security guards stationed at its entrance year-round, according to Northern Journal. The document, signed in December and released last week in response to a public records request, involves Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration and two Indigenous-owned companies with land along the proposed 211-mile route.

According to Northern Journal, Northwest Alaska’s NANA Regional Corp. and Interior Alaska’s Doyon Ltd. signed the nonbinding agreement, which outlines provisions to maximize benefits for Native corporations and nearby communities. The document also proposes creating a special entity to manage the project and establishing a subsistence committee made up of local tribal members and Native corporation shareholders. The companies agreed to negotiate in good faith toward definitive development agreements, though a NANA executive wrote in January the agreement does not represent a formal change in the company’s position.