Trump’s under-the-radar Alaska order has environmentalists on edge

One of President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive orders has reignited a debate over the future of Alaska’s vast wilderness and resources, sparking deep concern among some environmental groups and Indigenous communities.

One of President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive orders has reignited a debate over the future of Alaska’s vast wilderness and resources, sparking deep concern among some environmental groups and Indigenous communities. Trump on his first day in office signed an executive order focused on “unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential.” It includes a directive to develop Alaska’s energy and mineral resources “to the fullest extent possible.” The executive order has been lauded by state officials and industry leaders who hope to take advantage of Alaska’s drilling and mining potential. But environmentalists and some Indigenous Alaskans have warned of the negative impact on the state’s wilderness, wildlife and local subsistence lifestyles. While oil and gas drilling are a focus of Trump’s executive order, it has major implications for mining in a remote region of the Last Frontier state. The order includes reviewing a project called the Ambler Road, a proposed industrial route that would stretch 211 miles across northwest Alaska to explore the potential to build mines for extracting minerals like copper and cobalt. It’s a reversal of a Biden administration decision from June 2024 that halted the project due to environmental concerns. Trump’s order reinstates a decision published in July 2020 during his first term that had affirmed the project.