A lawsuit filed in federal court on Feb. 17 by two environmental entities seeks to block the Western Alaska oil and gas lease sale set for March 18.
The litigation filed by Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC and Layla A. Hughes on behalf of The Wilderness Society and Grandmothers Growing Goodness of Nuiqsut, Alaska, also seeks to block President Donald Trump’s 2025 Integrated Activity plan for the National Petroleum Plan-Alaska.
The government is scheduled to offer more than 600 tracts totaling more than 5.5 million areas in the Western Arctic reserve. The area includes leases in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area and along the Colville River, areas critical to wildlife and subsistence users.
Matt Jackson, Alaska senior manager for the Wilderness Society, said “they are rushing to sell off our public lands for corporate profits at the expense of the American people, beloved wildlife, and Alaskans who depend on nearby fish and game.”
“We will not stand by and allow it to happen, so we are taking our fight to the courts,” he added.
“The Trump Administration’s upcoming lease sale would sell off lands that support critical caribou habitat, calving grounds, and migration routes to oil and gas companies for development – sandwiching the most important lands for caribou in the Western Arctic between industrial infrastructure and drilling – leaving them trapped,” said Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, executive director of Grandmothers Growing Goodness. “Our community depends on the wellbeing of the caribou herd for subsistence and just until recently these lands were protected by a Nuiqsut Trilateral agreement because of their undeniable importance to continuing our way of life.”
Grandmothers Growing Goodness is a private, nonprofit entity whose mission is to protect the reserve’s subsistence resources, cultural heritage and the health and safety of Inupiat communities. Members depend on the reserve for subsistence hunting, traditional cultural practices and their physical wellbeing.
