The Trump Administration’s comment period on its proposal to roll back protections for 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPR-A) officially concluded. Over 250,000 people spoke out against the Trump Administration’s plans to strip vital protections for Indigenous communities, iconic landscapes like Teshekpuk Lake, wildlife, and so much more, all to open up more of America’s Arctic for oil and gas drilling. Grandmothers Growing Goodness, Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic (SILA), and Native Movement submitted comments expressing strong opposition to any rescission or weakening of the 2024 NPR-A Rule.

Following hours of vote-a-rama on amendments, Senate Republicans passed their version of the budget reconciliation bill 51-50, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tiebreaking vote. Despite widespread opposition, the final Senate bill includes mandated oil and gas lease sales across the Arctic, including in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (Western Arctic). 

On Tuesday night, the Trump Administration’s Department of the Interior (DOI) released a proposal that would sell off 82% of the Western Arctic to the oil and gas industry. DOI will have only a two-week comment period for the public to weigh in on a proposal that could open almost 19 million acres of public lands to drilling.

Today, the Trump administration took steps to strike down critical protections for 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (Western Arctic Reserve), opening a 60-day comment period on its proposal.

Early Wednesday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the latest version of Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill, ultimately axing sections that would have mandated oil and gas leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Western Arctic). 

Today, the Trump administration took another step towards repealing protections for 13 million acres in the Western Arctic. These safeguards were finalized last year to protect the food security, cultural traditions, and health of communities on the North Slope from expanded oil and gas development. They were developed alongside robust input from scientists and wildlife experts, Indigenous communities who live in harmony with these lands and the wildlife they support, and supportive comments from more than two hundred thousand people across the country. 

Today, the Trump administration took another step towards repealing protections for 13 million acres in the Western Arctic. These safeguards were finalized last year to protect the food security, cultural traditions, and health of communities on the North Slope from expanded oil and gas development. They were developed alongside robust input from scientists and wildlife experts, Indigenous communities who live in harmony with these lands and the wildlife they support, and supportive comments from more than two hundred thousand people across the country. 

Yesterday, Secretary Doug Burgum announced plans to open up an additional six million acres in the Western Arctic (National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska) to oil and gas leasing  – a plan that, if successful, will result in the devastating elimination of protections for subsistence and wildlife in the region. 

Last year, Nuiqsut Trilateral Incorporation, a non-profit organization representing Kuukpik, the Native Village, and the City of Nuiqsut, negotiated a right of way (ROW) protecting the core caribou calving habitat area of Teshekpuk Lake. It is unclear whether the Secretary still intends to honor that agreement.

Yesterday, President Trump announced an executive order that directs the Secretary of Interior to roll back protections for Special Areas in the Western Arctic and turn back the clock four years to reinstate plans to drill in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. This move is dangerous and undermines the Biden Administration’s years of engaging with Tribes and building a sound scientific record that underscored the necessity of protecting special areas, wildlife, and Native Alaskans in the Western Arctic.

(Nuiqsut, Alaska) – Today, Alaska Native communities are welcoming new measures to protect their subsistence, cultural, and traditional activities. In an announcement today, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)’s recognized significant subsistence resource values, the need for co-management, and the importance of establishing new Special Areas to protect subsistence use in the Western Arctic.