The Interior Department released a new regulation Friday that will affect 13 million acres in Alaska, prohibiting drilling for oil on the land.
The Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska rule will affect 40% of Alaska’s reserve, as 10.6 million acres will be completely protected by the Bureau of Land Management while the remaining amount will have limited protection. According to the Interior Department, this area is a “globally significant intact habitat for wildlife, including grizzly and polar bears, caribou and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.”
President Joe Biden expressed his pleasure in the regulation in a statement Friday, saying he is “proud” of the conservation effort.
“From safeguarding sacred lands near the Grand Canyon to protecting Alaskan treasures, my Administration has conserved more than 41 million acres of lands and waters,” Biden’s statement read. “But as the climate crisis imperils communities across the country, more must be done. My Administration will continue to take ambitious action to meet the urgency of the climate crisis, protect America’s lands and waters, and fulfill our responsibility to the next generation of Americans.”
“There is no question, using the best available science and incorporating Indigenous Knowledge practiced over millennia, that these decisions will help biological, cultural, historic and subsistence resources, safeguarding the way of life for the Indigenous people who have called this special place home since time immemorial,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
Additionally, the Bureau of Land Management issued its own ruling on a road some 211 miles long in north central Alaska to establish the Ambler Mining District. This road, which would result in mining copper, zinc, cobalt, and other minerals, could, per the department, “irrevocably impact resources, including those supporting important subsistence uses, in ways that cannot be adequately mitigated.”
“We are deeply disappointed by the Bureau of Land Management’s politically motivated decision to block construction of the Ambler Access Project,” Ambler Metals Managing Director Kaleb Froehlich said in a statement. “In doing so, the Department of the Interior is depriving Alaska Native communities of thousands of good-paying jobs and millions of dollars of badly needed tax revenues and economic investment, as well as preventing the United States from developing a domestic supply of minerals that are critical for clean energy technology and national security.”
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Amber Metals cited support from First Chief of the Allakaket Tribal Council PJ Simon and the area’s assemblyman, Miles Cleveland.
Alaska’s North Slope contains six of the 100 largest oil fields in the United States. The state was sixth in oil production last year, producing 426,000 barrels per day.
