Interior Department Protects 28 Million Acres In Alaska, Reversing Last-Minute Attempted Trump Land Grab

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Tuesday’s decision will conserve large pockets of land and water scattered across parts of Kobuk-Seward, Bering Sea-Western Interior Bay, East Alaska and the Ring of Fire regions of the state. These areas provide crucial habitat for Pacific salmon, brown bears, musk ox and migratory paths for caribou and a variety of birds. However, many of them also lay atop large reserves of oil and gas, which has made them prime targets for fossil fuel companies over the years. The Bureau of Land Management oversees the areas and the federal government designated them as “D1 lands” in 1971, meaning they are off-limits to extractive activities unless the Interior Department deems otherwise.

“The idea was, don’t make any big decisions about the futures of these lands until you’ve thought about what is in the public’s interest, and those withdrawals remained in place for decades,” Andy Moderow, the senior director of policy at the environmental group Alaska Wilderness League Action, told me. But that all changed in the final days of the Trump administration, when then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt made a last-minute bid to open up large chunks of D1 lands for industrial use, particularly oil and gas extraction.

Bernhardt failed to get this ruling finalized before Biden entered office and swiftly paused the decision. Since then, the federal government has gone through a years-long process to complete environmental assessments and gather public comment. By the end of the process, the Bureau of Land Management heard overwhelming support for retaining the protections, particularly from Alaska Native tribes, according to the agency’s website. Agency officials indicated in June that they planned to conserve the acreage, though the ruling was not yet set in stone. Their analysis found that revoking any of the protections would likely harm subsistence hunting and fishing for local communities, leading to a final decision favoring large-scale protection.

“These lands currently sustain our communities and have supported our people for generations. It is our obligation to do what is in our power to protect them,” Eugene Paul, chairman of the Bering Sea Interior Tribal Commission, said in a statement. “I want to thank the Bureau of Land Management for protecting our traditional lands and way of life for our children, grandchildren, and those still to come.”

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30082024/todays-climate-alaska-public-lands-protection-oil/