The Department of the Interior (DOI) has reinstated protections for over 28 million acres of public land in Alaska, banning mining, oil, and gas development.
The protections, which were established in 1971, were removed in January 2021 under the Trump administration.
In a press release on August 27, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced that the department made its decision following an “extensive public process.” This included gathering input from Alaska Native tribes and corporations, as well as from both rural and urban communities and the general public.
Many Alaska native tribes, native corporations, and tribal entities have said the lands are “vital to protecting important natural, cultural, and subsistence resources,” Haaland said.
Meanwhile, Secretary Haaland noted that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received “overwhelming support” from the public for maintaining protections across the land.
An analysis by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) revealed that removing any protections established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971 could negatively impact subsistence hunting and fishing.
This would affect communities that would lose federal subsistence priority over certain lands, potentially impacting between 44 and 117 communities, depending on the option considered.
That same analysis found that