The Trump administration transferred 28,000 acres (11,331 hectares) in a remote part of Northwest Alaska to a native corporation, putting more land near a proposed mining road under local control.
The move is aligned with President Donald Trump’s pledge to remove barriers to energy and resource development in the state.
“By putting land into Alaska Native hands, we are advancing opportunity in Alaska, while reducing federal barriers to resource development,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
The acreage was conveyed to NANA Regional Corporation, which is based in Kotzebue, Alaska. The corporation is controlled by the Inupiat tribe. NANA was not immediately available for comment.
NANA supports construction of a road to the Ambler mining district, an area with copper, zinc and lead deposits, but severed ties last year to a project proposed by an Alaska state agency. The Biden administration later rejected that road, citing risks to caribou and fish populations and native communities.
(By Nichola Groom; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)
