The Biden administration on Thursday approved a request to open tens of thousands of federally managed acres in rural Alaska for the transport of minerals to market, leaving environmental groups and local business owners fuming.
The National Park Service granted two easements within the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve that will allow for gold, zinc, copper and silver to be transported out of a deposit known as the Johnson Tract, about 125 miles southwest of Anchorage on the west side of Cook Inlet.
Together, the two easements — which would allow the construction of rail lines, roads and a port — cover 2,642 acres.
While much of the attention in Alaska has centered on larger mining projects like the now-defunct Pebble mine and the contentious Donlin gold mine, conservation groups have also fought activity around the Johnson Tract given its connection to habitat for brown bear, the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale and large tracts of pristine wilderness.
