US announces Arctic Refuge lease sale in Alaska

Anchorage — The US Bureau of Land Management is soliciting nominations from industry for tracts in a federal lease sale now planned in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the agency announced Nov. 16.

Nominations are open for 32 tracts covering the entire 1.6 million acres of the coastal plain of the refuge, the agency said. The coastal plain area thought to have high potential for major oil and gas discoveries.

BLM's Alaska office must receive expressions of interest by Dec. 17. A subsequent announcement will set the sale at least 30 days prior to the lease offering, BLM said.

This timing could put an ANWR coastal plain lease sale no earlier than Jan. 17, three days before President Donald Trump leaves office. President-elect Joe Biden, who will be sworn in Jan. 20, has said he opposes leasing in the Arctic refuge.

National conservation groups have fought drilling in the refuge, citing impacts on polar bears and migrating caribou. BLM recently approved a Record of Decision on a Final Environmental Impact Statement for leasing.

The industry is known to be somewhat unenthusiastic about ANWR despite its potential because of the intense politics and controversy connected with any effort to drill and develop discoveries.

Major conservation groups are criticizing the action and have filed lawsuits over BLM's decisions on the Record of Decision. They may seek a court injunction to stop a January lease sale.

"The Trump administration is barreling forward with a last-minute lease sale in America's most iconic wilderness after sidestepping the environmental review process mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act," said Jody Potts, a spokesperson for the Han Gwich'in Native Movement, a coalition of indigenous groups opposing ANWR drilling.

"The Interior Department's own documents show it has altered or disregarded scientific data on drilling's impacts on imperiled wildlife, including threatened polar bears who den on the coastal plain; drastically overestimated potential leasing revenue," Potts said in a statement issued Nov. 13.

In preparing for the sale the Interior Department failed to adequately consult with the indigenous peoples of the Gwich'in Nation of Alaska and Canada, she said.

The Gwich'in make their home along the migratory route of the Porcupine caribou herd and rely on the herd for their survival, Potts said.