Earthjustice Statement on the Trump Administration’s Proposed Repeal of Western Arctic Protections

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) today announced that it plans to repeal protections for millions of acres of ecologically critical public land in the Western Arctic against destructive fossil fuel drilling.

The protections DOI is rolling back were enacted to limit the expansion of harmful oil and gas development within Special Areas inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), the largest tract of public land in the U.S. that remains largely undeveloped.

These designated Special Areas protect essential wildlife habitat and are critical for the traditional subsistence practices of local people. The protections now being proposed for repeal were enacted after a lengthy public process that spanned nearly 10 months and resulted in more than 250,000 people calling for more Western Arctic lands to be protected from oil and gas development under the law.

Expanded oil development in the Western Arctic would harm caribou, polar bears, birds from around the globe, and traditional Indigenous subsistence practices. It would also worsen the climate crisis.

Earthjustice statement in response to today’s announcement:

“By proposing to repeal these science-based regulations, the Trump administration aims to grease the skids for oil companies intent on industrializing even the most sensitive areas in the Western Arctic in pursuit of dirty oil that can have no place in our energy future,” said Earthjustice Attorney Erik Grafe. “The administration should be working to develop a post-oil future for the region, not paving the way for outdated, destructive oil development.”

Background

The rollback of these regulations is only the beginning. The Trump administration also plans to maximize oil leasing by re-adopting a management plan from President Trump’s first term that vastly increases the land available in the Western Arctic for oil production. These actions will open most of the NPR-A to drilling, including some of the most sensitive areas like Teshekpuk Lake, endangering the Western Arctic’s wildlife and our climate.

Currently, five designated Special Areas, places with long-term protection from development, cover more than 13 million acres within the 23-million-acre Reserve, the nation’s largest tract of public land.

These Special Areas within the Western Arctic provide critically important wildlife habitat, are critical for the traditional subsistence practices of local Alaska Native people and already face dramatic disruption due to climate change.

When Congress transferred management of the Western Arctic from the U.S. Navy to the Bureau of Land Management in 1976, it recognized the area’s rich ecological values and required “maximum protection” of fish, wildlife, and habitat. When Congress authorized leasing and oil development in 1980, it again directed the federal government to ensure the protection of the Western Arctic’s ecological and cultural resources.