U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has approved major steps for oil and gas and mineral extraction in Alaska, citing a need for energy independence and economic development.
The plan includes reopening the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas leasing and completing right-of-way permits for the Ambler Road stretching to mineral claims in Northwest Alaska.
“By reopening the Coastal Plain and advancing key infrastructure, we are strengthening energy independence, creating jobs and supporting Alaska’s communities while driving economic growth across the state,” Burgum said.
He made the announcement on Oct. 23 in Washington D.C. in an Alaska Day ceremony, where he was praised for his decisions by the all-Republican Alaska congressional delegation.
“These actions aren’t just important for economic opportunity for Alaska’s working families – the ability to access our lands and responsibly develop our resources is directly related the livelihoods and well-being of Alaskans,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan. “That might be the most important legacy of Secretary Burgum and President Trump in Alaska.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski also commended the move.
“It is great to see the reinstatement of permits for Ambler that should have never been revoked in the first place, and the restoration of a Coastal Plain program that reflects federal law,” she said.
Rep. Nick Begich said Burgum’s actions “mark a turning point – proof that when the federal government works with Alaska, not against it, we can deliver real results for the people of our great state.”
Chiming in, Gov. Mike Dunleavy cited the announcement as “historic for Alaska.”
Interior officials also said they are moving forward with a land exchange for the road corridor connecting King Cove and Cold Bay and providing land allotments for eligible Alaska Native veterans of the Vietnam War.
While federal officials and the Alaska delegation tout the announcement, environmental entities criticized the Interior Department’s approval of oil and gas exploration in ANWR’s Coastal Plain and the Ambler Road.
The Wilderness Society said Burgum reissued the rights-of-way and Clean Water Act permit needed for the project in defiance of Alaska hunters, fishers, outdoor recreationalists and 88 tribal governments that passed resolutions opposing construction of the Ambler Road.
Matt Jackson, The Wilderness Society’s senior manager for Alaska, said the 211-mile Ambler Road would be built for the benefit of private industry to access the Ambler Mining District, while harming salmon streams and local communities’ subsistence resources and threaten caribou migration patterns.
“Our grandchildren deserve the same freedom to hunt for caribou, fish for salmon, and experience wilderness that we’ve received,” he said. “We don’t want this road, and we oppose these rights of way.”
“Today’s Arctic Refuge announcement puts America – and Alaska – last,” added Earthjustice Attorney Erik Grafe. “Expanding oil drilling in the Arctic threatens irreplaceable wildlife and cultural traditions that exist nowhere else in the world.”
He claimed the decision would rely too much on fossil fuels, which would in turn worsen the climate crisis.
“The Gwich’in people, most Americans, and even major banks and insurance companies know the Arctic Refuge is no place to drill,” Grafe said. “Today’s decision by the Trump administration is irresponsible as a policy matter, a poor economic decision, and flouts laws that protect this irreplaceable landscape.”
The refuge includes habitat home to species such as caribou; brown, black and polar bears; Dall sheep; moose; foxes; muskoxen; marine mammals, including whales and seals; and numerous birds, according to Grafe. In addition, the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd – which he said have sustained Gwich’in people for generations – and refuge’s coastal plain also provides an important denning area for female polar bears in winter.
Nicole Whittington-Evans, Defenders of Wildlife senior director, also criticized the decision.
“The administration is not content to bulldoze the White House; no, it must defile America’s most cherished landscapes by bulldozing a road through the heart of one of Alaska’s untouched refuges,” Whittington-Evans said. “We cannot standby and idly watch as two of our largest national wildlife refuges are sold out to private interests that threaten to degrade our biodiversity hotspots and imperiled wildlife habitat.”
