What impacts would a road crossing the Brooks Range, and passing through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, bring to the landscape, the natural resources, the way of life?

How do you adequately weigh the pros and cons of a 225-mile road proposed to cross some of the wildest country left in the United States, a landscape with rich cultural ties and natural resources, when the purpose of the road is to enable an open-pit copper mine?

The state of Alaska wants to build the road, part of which would cross Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, to reach the mine site near Ambler, a tiny village believed to sit near one of the world's richest copper deposits. Trilogy Metals, a main stakeholder of the road, believes the road and mine will bring high-paying jobs, training, and educational opportunities to a region suffering from high unemployment and lack of economic opportunity.

Opponents of the project are concerned that the Ambler Road would run through the Brooks Range - one of North America’s most rugged wilderness and one of Earth’s largest road-free areas. It would parallel six subsistence communities, cross 161 rivers and streams (two of them designated Wild and Scenic Rivers), and pass through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, they point out. The proposed Ambler Mining District serves as habitat for salmon, whitefish and sheefish as well as a crucial migration corridor for Alaska's largest caribou herd, the Western Arctic.

Two filmmakers have worked to bring this project to light in a project that depicts the wondrous landscape and the people who live, work, and enjoy it. You can help support their campaign. Visit BrooksRange.org.