Trump administration moves to open more of Alaska NPR to oil exploration

US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed into effect Jan. 4 a major land management change for the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, a long-anticipated action to open areas along the northern coast of the reserve to leasing.

The move take place two weeks before incoming President-Elect Joe Biden takes office, on Jan. 20.

Geologists have long considered the coastal area of the reserve to have very high potential for discoveries because it is along the Barrow Arch, a broad geological feature across northern Alaska where major oil discoveries have made further east, in the Prudhoe Bay area.

However, the area is also ecologically sensitive habitat, particularly for waterfowl and caribou. These areas were closed to drilling by former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in the previous land plan for the reserve.

The revised Integrated Activity Plan includes "important safeguards for wildlife and sensitive resources, while allowing for responsible oil and gas leasing across 18.6 million acres of the NPR-A," said Casey Hammond, Interior's principal deputy assistant secretary, in a statement issued by the Bureau of Land Management.

"These safeguards include no surface occupancy, controlled surface use, timing limitations and provide for new and emerging technologies to access subsurface resources while maintaining important surface values. This action is a significant achievement in delivering on our commitment to provide energy for America, from America," he said.

The new IAP, signed Dec. 31, closes some areas to leasing while opening others. The Teshekpuk Lake Special Area is protected by "no surface occupancy" stipulations and timing limitations mitigating impacts on caribou calving and important bird habitats, the BLM said.

Conservation groups were quick to criticize the action.

"Fundamentally, this land management plan is not in the public's interest and is an injustice to Indigenous communities that depend on these lands for clean air, clean water, and subsistence resources such as caribou, fish and migratory waterfowl," said Wilderness Society Alaska Assistant State Director David Krause.

"On its way out the door, this administration is sticking to its blunt and destructive approach to management solely for oil development," Krause said. "This flawed management plan will create more conflict and a less-stable business environment for companies operating in the region."