By WIN GRUENING
April 2, 2026 – A headline in a recent Juneau news story caught my eye: “88% of public comments oppose proposed mine road between Eagle and Herbert glaciers.”
Based on that headline, one would think everyone in Juneau was against roads and mining.
I don’t believe that’s so. And I wonder if those commenters considered how Juneau will ever reverse the decline in its school-age population, pay for flood mitigation expenses, and make their community more affordable.
Without addressing those concerns, Juneau can expect more school closures, higher taxes, and a continuing out-migration of working families.
According to the news story, the vast majority of 200 comments about the proposed road submitted to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources between Feb. 17 and March 13 expressed opposition.
Reading further along, it was disclosed that about 100 of the 176 comments submitted used a form letter with many that mimicked wording provided by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC).
The form-letter tactic, designed to boost anti-commenters, is used by environmental groups to elicit a standard knee-jerk reaction to most economic development projects, especially mines, which might have some environmental impact, regardless of how small, and irrespective of their benefits. These groups consider all mining projects the same, something to be delayed, studied forever, and eventually killed.
What is omitted from SEACC’s laborious and lengthy response in opposition are the actual facts about the project and its associated economic and demographic benefits.
The Herbert Gold Project – recently rebranded as the New Amalga Gold Deposit – is a high-grade gold exploration property owned by Grande Portage Resources Ltd., located about 15 miles north of Juneau in the historic 100-mile-long Juneau Gold Belt, to the south of Coeur Alaska’s Kensington gold mine.
The company’s conceptual mining plan, designed by Kyle Mehalek, P.E., former Chief Mining Engineer at Hecla Mining’s Green’s Creek Mine, envisions the future development of the New Amalga gold mine as a selective underground mining operation which would ship ore off-site to be processed at a third-party facility, enabled by the project’s location near tidewater. The company says this would result in a dramatically reduced environmental footprint due to the avoidance of chemical processing and tailings storage on-site and should expedite permitting applications.
The proposed 1.3-mile access road is a necessary link to allow shipment of ore off-site.
The concern about this project seems misplaced given the positive environmental safety record and significant economic impact of Juneau’s other two mines, the Kensington Gold Mine and Hecla Mining’s Greens Creek Mine, both among Juneau’s largest property taxpayers.
A state study on the nearby proposed Cascade Point ferry terminal notes that New Amalga “has the potential for substantial economic development in the region” and highlights Goldbelt Corporation’s view of the project as a way to demonstrate Alaska Native leadership in infrastructure, shareholder employment, and revenue.
New Amalga could bring Kensington‑scale benefits to Juneau if it reaches production: hundreds of high‑wage jobs directly, plus a larger indirect boost through services, transport, and Native corporation ventures.
Direct on‑site employment would plausibly fall in the 250–400 permanent jobs range, including miners, mechanics, engineers, safety, and camp/logistics staff.
At Kensington‑like wage levels, that would translate to $30–55 million per year in payroll, much of it spent in Juneau and northern Southeast Alaska. Adding several million dollars per year in Juneau property tax and other related spending would make it one of the municipality’s major private‑sector contributors, alongside existing mines.
If only, say, 80 New Amalga workers relocate to Juneau with families, a reasonable estimate of roughly 120–160 K‑12 students would be added to Juneau’s dwindling school population. With projected decreases of almost 900 students over the next decade, this alone wouldn’t reverse the decline, but combined with other initiatives and developments, it might be enough to help keep our elementary schools closer to viable size and preserve popular electives and activities.
With that as background, why isn’t there more visible support for projects like this? Have the Juneau Chamber of Commerce and the Juneau Economic Development Council weighed in with positive comments? What about the Juneau Assembly?
Unless Juneau enjoys losing population and closing schools, maybe it’s time to connect the dots.
Win Gruening retired as senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank for the State of Alaska in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1970. After serving as a pilot in the US Air Force flying in the Pacific and Vietnam, Win began his banking career with Rainier Bank in Seattle and moved home to Juneau in 1980. Win has been involved extensively in various local and statewide organizations such as United Way, Junior Achievement, and the Alaska Committee.
4 thoughts on “Win Gruening: When will Juneau economic naysayers connect the dots?”
Win,
Thank you for serving our country and our great state of Alaska. Juneau is a government town. That means it’s run by liberals and Democrats. They literally have no idea how to produce wealth from developing resources in the private sector. Wealth creation is beyond their capacity to understand. They are too busy trying to tax the general public and impede resource development. They are economic illiterates. But keep trying!
Excellent article with common sense facts that could improve the quality of life in Alaska’s capital city.
Democrats will most certainly put everything they can muster into stopping this “devastating” possibility!
They won’t connect the dot, they will deny the very existence of such a thing as a dot” it wasn’t on NPR or Colbert” therefore it doesn’t exist!!!!”,because it doesn’t match their Leftist ideology that ” if we just tax more, everything will be butterflies and rainbows and fluffy kittens, there’s no need to actually DO, or build,anything,and we can have everything we desire, if we just wish hard enough!” And all those eeevil MAGATs must slave away to provide for US, so no sweat need ever sully our brows!!”
The opponents live in a fantasy world that exists only in their minds… prevents them from seeing and understanding the real world the way it really is. Many of you live and sleep with a person fitting this description.