WILD ALASKA BLOG
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 for our…
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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…
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What the heck Is Budget Reconciliation—And Why Does It Always Come for the Arctic?
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,…
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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…
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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…
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Doug Burgum: The Billionaire Governor Turned Trump’s DOI Secretary
Doug Burgum may not be a household name, but his new job as Secretary of the Interior in the Trump administration puts him in charge of decisions that will impact millions of acres of public land and water-especially in Alaska. As the former governor of North Dakota and a billionaire businessman, Burgum now leads the…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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Arctic Refuge Drilling Fails Again: A Victory for Conservation and Common Sense
Big news from the Arctic Refuge: The latest oil and gas lease sale for the Coastal Plain bombed—not a single bid. Zero. Nada. This was supposed to be a cornerstone of Trump’s 2017 Tax Act’s promise to generate $2.2 billion for the American people. Instead, it’s yet another reminder that drilling the Arctic isn’t just…
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