Federal Government Bans Drilling and Mining on 28 Million Acres in Alaska

Fish Creek meanders through the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska's North Slope, on July 8, 2004. David W. Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey via AP

The Department of the Interior (DOI) has re-instated protections against mining and oil and gas development on more than 28 million acres of public lands across Alaska.

The protections, which were established in 1971, were removed in January 2021 under the Trump administration.

In an Aug. 27 press release, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said the department finalized the decision after an “extensive public process” in which it sought input from Alaska native tribes and native corporations, rural and urban communities, and the general public.

Many Alaska native tribes, native corporations, and tribal entities have said the lands are “vital to protecting important natural, cultural, and subsistence resources,” Haaland said.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) heard “overwhelming support” from the public about retaining protections across the land, she said.

An analysis by the BLM also found that removing any of the protections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971 “would likely harm subsistence hunting and fishing in communities that would lose federal subsistence priority over certain lands, ranging from 44 to 117 communities, depending on the alternative.”

That same analysis found that lifting “all or even some of the withdrawals could have lasting negative impacts on wildlife, vegetation, and permafrost.”

As a result, the protections will remain in place in the public lands within the Bristol Bay, Bering Sea Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk Seward, and the Ring of Fire regions of Alaska.

The move by the DOI reverses a decision issued in the last days of the Trump administration that would have ended the longstanding protections and allowed oil and gas development on the public land.

In its press release, the DOI called that decision “unlawful” and said it lacked “sufficient analysis of the potential impacts of such a decision on subsistence and other important resources.”

The previous decision also lacked appropriate tribal consultation and did not comply with other legal requirements, the department said.

The DOI put the decision on hold to ensure full consideration of the potential impacts and allow for engagement with the public and Alaska Native communities, it said.

“Tribal consultation must be treated as a requirement—not an option—when the federal government is making decisions that could irrevocably affect tribal communities,” Haaland said.

The secretary of the interior thanked the BLM for “taking the time to ensure that we approached this decision with the benefit of feedback from Alaska native communities,” as well as tribal leaders.

‘Complete Betrayal’

Haaland added that keeping the protections in place across the 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska will ensure their continued access and use.

Environmental organizations welcomed the decision, with the Sierra Club noting the lands are “critical to the survival of Alaskan communities and wildlife,” including three of North America’s largest caribou herds and 5,000 miles of salmon streams across the state.

The lands also provide critical migration corridors and connect other conservation areas of wildlife habitat, the organization said.

“These lands and waters are unparalleled not only for their natural beauty, but for the habitat they provide imperiled wildlife, and the recreation opportunities they offer us,” said Dan Ritzman, director of the Sierra Club’s Conservation Campaign. “These 28 million acres are some of the last truly intact wildlands in the United States. Secretary Haaland deserves credit for listening to those who have called for their protection for generations to come.”

The DOI’s decision was criticized by Alaska’s Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

In a post on the social media platform X, Dunleavy accused the DOI of “locking up another 28 million acres of land,” describing the decision as a  “sanction against Alaska.”

Previously, the Biden administration has taken steps to bolster other protections against development in Alaska, including restricting oil and gas extraction on 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and rejecting the proposed construction of a 211-mile industrial access road meant to connect the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District in north-central Alaska.

“They are attempting to turn Alaska into one big national park,” the governor said. “Alaska is still owed 5 million acres of land under the Statehood Act. Every one of these sanctions harms Alaska’s ability to prosper.”

Elsewhere, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) called the DOI’s decision a “complete betrayal of Alaska native Vietnam-era veterans,” and “of the promises that Alaska received when it became a state in 1959.”

“With this record of decision, the Biden-Harris administration has indefinitely restricted from selection more than 98 percent of the lands that Alaskans have been promised they would receive for decades—locking up more than 28 million acres,” Sullivan wrote on X.

“This harms our jobs and economy, and our Alaska native communities, who will be denied access to gravel resources to build out local village infrastructure,” the lawmaker added.

According to the DOI, its decision to keep the protections in place does not impact acres already available for selection by eligible individuals under the Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans Land Allotment Program.

The DOI’s Public Land Order will be published in the Federal Register later this week