Alaska offers free rocks and dirt, helping big state-backed construction projects
- Alaska Beacon
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Proposed Ambler Road and the Alaska natural gas pipeline could benefit from a change in state regulations that would save them millions in costs
By James Brooks
Alaska Beacon
The state of Alaska is preparing to give away millions of dollars worth of gravel to public corporations, a move that would amount to millions of dollars in assistance to some of the state’s biggest construction projects.
According to a Q&A posted by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the beneficiaries could include the proposed Ambler Access Project and the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
The state’s plans were disclosed the day before Thanksgiving in a public notice stating that DNR is planning “regulation changes on material sales and conveyances to state agencies.”
The Department of Natural Resources oversees mining on state lands in Alaska, including the extraction of gravel and fill dirt for use in construction.
While humble, gravel can be serious business — in November, DNR commissioner-designee John Crowther signed an order that prohibits gold, silver and other kinds of mining near gravel quarries along the Dalton Highway, which links Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay.
For state maintenance crews that need to keep the highway open, gravel is more important than rare minerals.
In 2024, High Country News reported that for construction projects on the North Slope, gravel is a “precious commodity” because of its scarcity.
One of DNR’s proposed changes to its gravel rules declares “that the department convey material to a state agency or public corporation at a base price of $0.00 per cubic yard and without retaining a reversionary interest.”
Currently posted price charts show the state selling gravel for $3 per cubic yard in Interior Alaska.
State law prescribes that any time DNR wants to sell land or public resources for less than market value, the commissioner must declare that the sales “serve a public purpose and are in the public interest.”
The upcoming regulation change states that transfer to a state agency or state corporation is automatically consistent with that requirement.
That would allow the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to get gravel from state land for free, excepting the cost of processing and transportation.
In a question and answer notice published Dec. 26, DNR said the change is intended to allow “for maximum use of state land consistent with the public interest.”
“Examples of a public purpose would be a state agency or public corporation using gravel to construct a gravel pad on a state leased site for infrastructure development; to construct a new state highway right-of-way or expand an existing state right-of-way; or to build an embankment along a river; or gravel needed for the development of a gas line right-of-way,” it wrote.
The free gravel and dirt would also be available to state-owned corporations, which is likely to affect some of the state’s biggest development projects.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is developing a 211-mile road between the Dalton Highway and mine sites in northwest Alaska and would be eligible for the free rock and dirt. So would the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., which is now a junior partner in the development of the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
A spokesperson for Glenfarne, the pipeline’s lead developer, said the firm did not request the regulation change.
In 2024, the Bureau of Land Management estimated that the proposed Ambler Road would need between 15 million and 22 million cubic yards of gravel, plus an additional 220,000 to 347,000 yards annually for maintenance.
If the state of Alaska provides that gravel for free, it would be a revenue loss of between $45 million and $66 million for construction alone.
The public comment period on the change expired on Jan. 2, and it was not immediately clear when the change would take effect.
Lorraine Henry, director of communications for DNR, said by email that it isn’t yet clear how much gravel might be affected by the regulation change, and that the agency didn’t intend to benefit any specific project.
“DNR cannot speculate on the volume of gravel that may be involved, as each application from State of Alaska agencies will be evaluated on its merits – and will include a public process and follow statutory authorities,” she said.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
