Protection for 28 Million Acres in Alaska Within Reach

Some of the largest intact landscapes left in the United States are in Alaska. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) just took a major step toward maintaining important protections for 28 million acres of those lands. The Biden administration now must issue a final decision that safeguards those lands from extractive industrial development.  

These treasured lands support Alaska Native communities, cultural traditions, subsistence resources, commercial fishing, and outdoor recreation and tourism. They provide refuge for caribou, moose, bears, all five species of Pacific salmon, migratory birds, and countless other wildlife. And they’re at the forefront of the climate crisis. 

Safeguarding these public lands from harmful industrial development—such as mining or oil extraction—is essential. BLM’s Final Environmental Impact Statement recommends maintaining important protections for 28 million acres of BLM-managed public lands in Alaska. 

These lands—known as D-1 lands—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mining and oil and gas development to allow the Secretary of the Interior to determine whether the land should remain withdrawn to protect the public interest. 

Since that time, many of the lands withdrawn under ANCSA section 17(d)(1) have been permanently protected under other designations.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. BLM’s Final Environmental Impact Statement brings us one step closer to locking in historic public land protections across Alaska. 

NRDC joins more than half of all federally recognized Tribes in Alaska, commercial fishermen, dozens of businesses, and conservation groups calling on the Biden administration to maintain protections on all 28 million acres of D-1 lands under review. 

The power to safeguard our nation’s critical habitat, support climate resilience, and stand with Tribes rests with the Biden administration. Last week’s decision was an important step. We now urge the expeditious finalization of D-1 protections to preserve these vital landscapes—and the people, economies, and wildlife they support—into the future.