By Nancy Lord, Advocacy Committee Chair
Among the latest for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the news that the Department of the Interior (DOI) has now opened the coastal plain (the primary calving grounds for the Porcupine caribou herd) to oil and gas leasing nominations. The call is for nominations and comments (our emphasis) on which tracts should be offered in the first of four required lease sales mandated under the “big beautiful bill.”
As you will recall, previous leases in the refuge gathered virtually no industry support. The first lease sale, held in January 2021 under the original program, brought in just $16.5 million—less than 1% of the Congressional Budget Office estimates. Most leases were purchased by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), a public corporation of the State of Alaska. Only two private companies, Knik Arm Services LLC and Regenerate Alaska, participated, and both ultimately relinquished their leases. The second lease sale, held in January 2025, received no bidders and generated no revenue at all. The promise that Arctic Refuge leasing would meaningfully contribute to the federal budget was squashed.
While we continue our Arctic Refuge litigation with coalition partners and the attorneys at Trustees for Alaska, we cannot rest on the possibility of legal success or the chance that industry will continue to be uninterested in the area. We have multiple opportunities to discourage bidding by speaking out loudly and often, including during the just-opened 30-day nominations period.
The Alaska Wilderness League says this: “Executives and investors pay attention to risk. They pay attention to reputational damage. And they pay attention when a project becomes synonymous with controversy and opposition. If bidding on the Arctic Refuge means headlines, protests, investor questions, and sustained public backlash from day one, many companies will decide it simply isn’t worth it.”
In addition to protesting the lease sales by letting potential bidders and financers know how much we value these refuge lands as refuge, we can submit comments by mail or email More information on how to submit comments can be found here. Be sure to put in the subject line: Coastal Plain Leases. Comments must be received by March 5.
- By Mail: State Director, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK 99513–7504
- Email (and this is the whole address) BLM_AKSO_AK932_AKLeasesales@blm.gov
Photo Caption (Above) The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is an important bird nursery not just for northern birds like this snowy owl but for birds that migrate south to all 50 states and other continents. 200 species nest on the Arctic Refuge with 70 species specific to the coastal plain (area to be leased for oil and gas). PC:Melissa Groo/FWS