BLM Pick Prioritizes Polluters Over People—What’s at Stake for Alaska

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 2/14/2025 Contact: Anja Semanco | 724-967-2777 | anja@alaskawild.org  Following the nomination of Kathleen Sgamma, a long-time oil and gas proponent to lead the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Alex Cohen, Government Affairs Director at Alaska Wilderness League, released the following statement:  “Sgamma’s nomination isn’t just a conflict of interest—it’s a five-alarm fire…

Read More

Celebrating Bill Thompson, a Wild Alaska Champion 

Alaska Wilderness League is proud to have the support of a dedicated and tight-knit community that has come together time and time again to preserve some of Alaska’s most iconic landscapes. Support from this community comes in many forms – ranging anywhere from sending a message to Congress to making a personally meaningful donation to…

Read More

What the heck Is Budget Reconciliation—And Why Does It Always Come for the Arctic? 

Polar Bear Mother With Cub, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Budget reconciliation might sound like an obscure congressional process, but it’s actually been a backdoor tactic for trying to force Arctic drilling into the federal budget for decades. Originally designed to streamline tax and spending decisions, this process has been repeatedly exploited to push through controversial policies that wouldn’t be passed on their own.  Now,…

Read More

Burgum Moves to Revive Arctic Drilling, Selling Out Public Lands to Billionaires

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 2/4/2025 Contact: Anja Semanco | anja@alaskawild.org | 724-967-2777   Following this week’s Secretarial Orders issued by DOI Secretary Doug Burgum, Kristen Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Wilderness League, released the following statement:  “In just days, Burgum has proven he’s nothing more than a puppet for Trump’s excessive giveaways to billionaires,” said Kristen Miller, executive…

Read More

The League’s Official Statement on Doug Burgum’s Confirmation as Interior Secretary

“Trump’s allies are ready to gamble away Alaska’s wild places for profits that don’t exist, and Doug Burgum will just be another rubber stamp for Trump’s reckless energy agenda. That isn’t the leadership our public lands need,” said Kristen Miller, executive director of Alaska Wilderness League. “Burgum’s loyalty to Trump ignores both the economic realities…

Read More

Memories with President Carter in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

See the original story in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner here. Memories with President Carter in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge By Debbie S. Miller In the spring of 1990, I finished my first book, “Midnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” based on 14 years of wilderness adventures in our greatest wildlife refuge. I…

Read More

Drill, Deny, Destroy: Trump’s First Day Actions on Alaska’s Resource Future

On his very first day in office, Trump made it abundantly clear that his administration intends to prioritize fossil fuel expansion, climate denial, and political theater over meaningful governance. His inaugural address, early executive actions, and policy signals left no doubt: the next four years will bring an attempted, all-out assault on Alaska, environmental protections,…

Read More

Alaska Wilderness League Condemns President Trump’s Sweeping Actions Targeting Alaska’s Public Lands

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 1/21/2025 Contact: Sophia Grande | sophia@alaskawild.org | 240-447-7715 Alaska Wilderness League Condemns President Trump’s Sweeping Actions Targeting Alaska’s Public Lands Washington, D.C. – Last night, hours after being sworn into office, President Donald Trump signed an Alaska-focused Executive Order that intends to expand fossil fuel extraction and mining on tens of…

Read More