The Arctic Ocean is rapidly losing summer sea ice, opening opportunities for economic development such as commercial shipping, mining, and oil and gas development. These activities entail the risk of cultural, social, and environmental impacts. In the United States and Canada, consultation processes have developed to give local residents a voice in assessing potential impacts and consequent decisions concerning development activities. In Greenland, consultation procedures are being developed as part of a larger environmental impact assessment system. The experience from Alaska and Canada shows that management decisions that incorporate a consultation process are preferable to decisions being made elsewhere with little or no local input. At the same time, current U.S. and Canadian consultation processes require a great deal of time and effort, and the influence of local input on final decisions is often unclear. We review examples from Alaska, the Northwest Territories, and Greenland, and find that two assessments are warranted. First, the burdens of consultation on local communities should be evaluated. Second, the degree to which local input influences final decisions should be examined, in part to determine whether the effort expended is worthwhile. In both cases, a key result of the assessment should be recommendations for improved practices to make clear how local input is used.