BLM Poised to Protect 28 Million Acres of Alaska Public Lands
WASHINGTON – The Biden Administration is one step closer to protecting 28 million acres of Alaska’s public lands. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement today that recommended maintaining protections from industrial development that the Trump Administration proposed, but never finalized, lifting on 28 million acres of federally managed land across Alaska. The Interior Department also issued a final record of decision on the Ambler Road permit application, rejecting the proposed 211-mile industrial road that would have had devastating impacts for the environment and several Alaskan communities.
Andrew Wetzler, NRDC Vice President, Nature, made the following statement:
“This is a beautiful day for Alaska’s Tribes and communities, for biodiversity, and for business.”
“BLM’s recommendation to preserve protections for Alaska’s public lands, will help avert an ecological, economic, and environmental justice disaster.”
“The administration today has recognized that approving a dead-end road that would have changed the lives of Tribal communities forever is not in this nation’s best interests. Safeguarding 28 million acres of public lands is now also within reach. The Biden administration has the power to protect critical landscapes, support climate resilience, and stand with Tribes across Alaska.
BACKGROUND:
Some of the largest intact landscapes left in the United States are in Alaska. Known as D-1 lands, they have been protected for decades under section 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). In 1971, Congress temporarily withdrew all unreserved lands in Alaska from mining and oil and gas development to allow the Secretary of the Interior to determine whether the land should remain withdrawn to protect the public interest.
Since that time, many of the lands withdrawn under ANCSA section 17(d)(1) have been permanently protected under other designations. However, tens of millions of acres remain vulnerable. The Trump Administration proposed, but never finalized, five public lands orders that would have opened 28 million acres to industrial development.
The Biden Administration paused the implementation of those orders, and, over the past two years, BLM engaged in an environmental review process to determine the fate of those 28 million acres.
The Biden administration also issued a final “record of decision” rejecting the Ambler Road Project, a proposed 211-mile industrial access road that would have crossed into critical Alaskan wildlands including the Brooks Range of Alaska and the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The road was championed by the mining industry, but the Bureau of Land Management conducted a comprehensive environmental analysis that established that the proposal would have caused irreparable harm to wildlife and permafrost, in particular caribou populations. These impacts would have had devastating impacts for communities in the region that are reliant on subsistence hunting and fishing activities.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).