Nearly 90% of public commenters opposed the project
Alaska has approved the first segment of a mining access road requested by Canadian company Grand Portage Resources Ltd., over the objection reflected in nearly 90% of 196 public comments submitted earlier this year.
The state approved a private non-exclusive easement on state land off Glacier Highway, according to reporting by Jasz Garrett of the Juneau Independent distributed by the Associated Press. The easement authorizes a 15-foot-wide gravel road stretching approximately 1.3 miles between the Herbert Glacier and Eagle Glacier trail, along with two one-acre helicopter pads.
The road does not directly intersect any of the existing recreation trails. But nearly 90% of the 196 public comments received earlier this year opposed the project.
“Alaska’s public lands and transportation systems exist to serve Alaskans — not to subsidize private industrial expansion at public expense,” wrote Juneau resident Brooks Horan in one of the comments.
The state acknowledged in its decision that the road and staging areas will affect recreation in the area but said it “does not agree that the wild and scenic nature of the area will be irreversibly damaged by approving this easement.”
The approval covers the first segment of the access road Grand Portage Resources requested for the New Amalga mine.