The U.S. House plans to vote today on a resolution that would revoke guidelines and protections for a large area of northern Alaska. It's the latest step in Alaska's congressional delegation's efforts to repeal a land-use plan that covers 13 million acres of federal land in the Interior and along the Dalton Highway — efforts that are not going over well among people in the region who spent years working on the plan.
Alaska Congressman Nick Begich describes the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan as a product of the Biden administration that "locked up a lot of resources." He said one goal of repealing the plan to remove a hurdle for the proposed Ambler road, which would connect the Dalton Highway to a possible mining district.
"I think there's a lot of other potential out there. And we heard from regional stakeholders, including Alaska Native corporations, who own significant lands and have significant interests, because, of course, they represent villages in the region," Begich said. "Based on that stakeholder feedback that we received, there was a clearly identified need to repeal that rule."
A resource management plan identifies critical areas and guides management on federal land. The Central Yukon Resource Management Plan was coauthored by six of tribes in the region and finalized after more than a decade of public input from regional stakeholders.
The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have targeted resource management plans in three states, to stamp out vestiges of the Biden administration's conservation agenda. But residents and tribal members in and near the Central Yukon region say it feels like their voices are being stamped out, too. Some spent more than a decade working on the plan, to protect important watersheds, identify wildlife corridors and the like.
Malinda Chase is an advisor to the Bering Sea Interior Tribal Commission, and an Anvik tribal member. She was incensed to hear Begich dismiss all that work, which she said 40 tribes in the region contributed to.
"What does Begich know about my land?" Chase said. "What does Sullivan really know about it? They're not out there living like our people are on the land."
Begich introduced a resolution to repeal the plan in July. Alaska U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski have sponsored the Senate version. Congress members from North Dakota and Montana introduced similar legislation to repeal resource management plans for their states in July.
Chase called Begich's resolution "alarming federal overreach." She said it is the first time Congress has tried to revoke a resource management plan using the Congressional Review Act, a mechanism used by Congress to overturn actions by federal agencies.
"He is positioning Congress to make large land management decisions, and they don't have that expertise. Not for Alaska, or the rest of the country," Chase said. "It's a misuse of power."
Opponents of the resolutions have compared it to a "Pandora's box" — if the plan is revoked through the Congressional Review Act, it will not be reinstated. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., said passing the resolutions could eliminate the Bureau of Land Management's ability to create management plans in the future.
"The House has not pursued this type of vehicle to overturn resource management plans in the past," he said. "It's important for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to recognize the gravity of taking this step."
Mollie Busby and her husband own Arctic Hive lodge in Wiseman, a small community off the Dalton Highway north of Coldfoot. It's a seven-hour drive from Wiseman to the nearest grocery store.
In an Anchorage Daily News op-ed, Busby responded to a Politico article where Begich said that "regional stakeholders were steamrolled by the Biden administration's backroom schemes to control Alaska resource access and use."
"The regional stakeholders were not steamrolled," Busby wrote. "Imagine you're one of the people who actually live and run a small business in this community and want this plan. Wouldn't this feel like the height of an out-of-touch politician in Washington, D.C., telling a small Alaska town what's best for the people who live there?"
Some of the stakeholders who helped create the plan said they worry that if it's nullified, the Ambler road and other potential mining projects would damage key parts of the landscape, putting pressure on the caribou, moose and other species they depend on for subsistence.
"It's pretty much our last hope at continuing our way of life," said Nulato tribal representative Micheal Stickman. He said the plan noted which particular areas need protection, which he says is critical for Yukon River communities like his that have had poor salmon returns and other challenges.
"I've lived on the river my whole life. I've watched the people go from feast to famine." said the 66-year-old Stickman. "We already have no salmon for six years, so we are really struggling with that. The moose season has become more important than ever before, because if you want to survive, you're going to get a moose."
Stickman said the Alaska delegation is not listening to the voices of the region.
"The tribal involvement in the plan is the most important local involvement for us, because our subsistence way of life is under attack," said Stickman.
About 130 miles northwest from Nulato, Frank Thompson, first chief of Evansville's tribal council, also worries about subsistence. He's afraid that if the Central Yukon plan is revoked, it could repeal protections along the pipeline corridor and open up Evansville and nearby communities to outside hunters.
Thompson said moose and caribou populations have dwindled in the community in recent years, and he fears additional strain.
"It's opening up a whole lot more areas for people to hunt, and they'll be coming up the Haul road," Thompson said. "We would definitely see that impact."
Two of the Alaska Native regional corporations in the area, NANA and Doyon, did not respond to emails seeking comment about the Central Yukon Regional Management Plan or its potential repeal.
If the House and Senate pass the resolution, it goes to the president for his signature.
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