Washington, D.C. — The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has moved to protect approximately 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska from development. This decision, detailed in a final environmental impact statement, reverses the Trump administration's efforts to open these lands for industrial development and potential transfer during its final weeks in office.
Most federally recognized Tribes in Alaska have formally requested that the Biden administration maintain full protections—known as “D-1 withdrawals”—for these lands. Concurrently, the BLM issued its final record of decision rejecting the Ambler Access Project. This project proposed a 211-mile private industrial road through the Brooks Range and the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, which would have caused significant environmental and subsistence harms by crossing hundreds of rivers and streams in remote Alaskan wilderness.
In response to these actions, Drew McConville, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, stated: "Today, President Joe Biden is answering the call of Alaska Native communities and protecting lands and waterways that have sustained subsistence traditions for thousands of years. These actions represent historic progress for conservation in Alaska and an embrace of common sense, too. Reckless industrial development should have no place in the nation’s most sensitive and treasured public lands, particularly when Alaska is already warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet."
Related resources include:
- “A Below-the-Radar Public Lands Decision With Big Implications for Alaska Native Communities” by Drew McConville and Alia Hidayat
- “The Biden Administration’s Opportunity To Protect the Brooks Range From Unnecessary Mining via Ambler Road” by Sam Zeno
For further information or to speak with an expert, contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].
