---
title: "Video: I Fished Ground Zero for the Ambler Road"
description: "The proposed 211-mile Ambler Road would cut through one of the last great intact wildernesses in America. So we went and fished it."
date: "2026-09-25"
modified: "2026-09-25"
authors:
  - name: "Roy Holdford"
    job_title: "Multi-Media Producer"
    link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/roy-holdford.md"
url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/video-fishing-ambler-road-corridor/"
categories:
  - "Conservation"
  - "Public Lands & Waters"
tags:
  - "News"
---

# Video: I Fished Ground Zero for the Ambler Road

![A grayling caught along ground zero for the Ambler Road industrial corridor.](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/grayling_ambler_road.jpg>)

In October the Trump administration overruled the [Bureau of Land Management](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/blm-blocks-ambler-road.md>) to [greenlight the Ambler Road](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/trump-administration-approves-ambler-road.md>), a proposed 211-mile corridor that would cut through the wilderness south of the Brooks Range and connect the Dalton Highway to mining deposits.

At least four separate mines have been suggested, but there is currently no cap on how much development could happen along Ambler.

That push to build the controversial 211-mile private industrial corridor [through one of the last great intact wildernesses](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/ambler-road-western-arctic-caribou.md>) of the world, most folks agree, won’t do the area’s fish and game any favors. To experience what’s at stake, I flew into the Brooks Range this summer [to fish at ground zero for the proposed road](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_qcxvU5xkQ>). Here’s what I found there, and what’s at stake.

## Author
Roy Holdford is a Multimedia Producer for Outdoor Life. His roles with the publication include videography, video editing, and he's the resident turkey fanatic. As a freelance videographer he's worked with brands such as Remi Warren, Kifaru, Barnes Bullets, and The Hunting Public. He spends the spring months traveling the country and living out of his van chasing the wild turkey. In the fall, he hunts whitetails and waterfowl along the East Coast. Born and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, he's cut his teeth on hunting public land and self filming his adventures.