Trump’s BLM holds lease sale in the NPR-A
The Trump administration is preparing to revise the federal government's management plan for the Western Arctic, opening more conservation areas to oil development.
Bob Wick / BLM
Conservation groups will fight planned revision of management plan for Western Arctic
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA (December 11, 2019) – The federal Bureau of Land Management today held an oil and gas lease sale offering 4 million acres in the Western Arctic’s National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. In response, The Wilderness Society released the following statement from Alaska Assistant Director David Krause:
“Today’s lease sale is just another unnecessary step in the Trump Administration’s assault on the Western Arctic. As their next act, they intend to drastically revise the government’s management plan for the NPR-A to strip high-value conservation areas of their current protections.
“The existing Integrated Activity Plan is based on science and adheres to the BLM’s congressional mandate to protect places such as the Teshekpuk Lake and Colville River special areas,” Krause added. “Like with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we and our partner organizations are committed to ensuring that irreplaceable Arctic landscapes remain off-limits to destructive oil exploration and drilling.”
