Alaska Wilderness League Opposes Congressional Attack on Common Sense Protections for Western Arctic
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 19, 2025
Contact: Anja Semanco | 724-967-2777 | anja@alaskawild.org
Alaska Wilderness League Opposes Congressional Attack on Common Sense Protections for Western Arctic
Washington, D.C. — Alaska Wilderness League strongly opposes a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan and Representative Nick Begich that seeks to overturn the Biden administration’s 2022 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Western Arctic) Integrated Activity Plan (IAP).
The Western Arctic, encompassing roughly 23 million acres, is the largest tract of public land in the United States. Under the Biden administration, the 2022 IAP reinstated critical environmental and cultural protections rolled back previously under the first Trump administration. This Biden-era IAP included oil and gas leasing on approximately half of the Western Arctic, while it also included some protections for Special Areas like Teshekpuk Lake, and it recognized the need for stronger protections for Alaska Native subsistence resources. The plan also restricted new roads and industrial infrastructure in ecologically and culturally sensitive areas.
Congress Targets Protections for Wildlife, Subsistence, and Climate
The CRA resolution introduced today would nullify the 2022 IAP, reopening vast portions of the NPR-A to oil and gas leasing, with fewer industrial development protections.
“If this CRA resolution passes, it would tear down critical protections for caribou, migratory birds, and marine mammals—resources that are critical for Alaska Native communities, in an area where the impacts from oil extraction are rapidly increasing,” said Kristen Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Wilderness League. “This is no small policy change—it’s an unprecedented and chaotic move by Congress that would upend decades of science, traditional knowledge, and careful processes used to craft essential protections for the Western Arctic’s most ecologically important Special Areas.”
Key implications of the CRA resolution include:
- Wildlife and Habitat at Risk: Special Areas like Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok River Uplands, Peard Bay, and Kasegaluk Lagoon would be opened to more leasing and industrial activity, putting caribou calving grounds, bird nesting areas, marine mammal habitat, and globally significant ecosystems in jeopardy. The Colville River Special Area would cease to exist.
- Subsistence Threats: Alaska Native communities dependent on these lands for traditional hunting and fishing would face increased disruption.
- Infrastructure Explosion: Roads, pipelines, and permanent industrial facilities could be authorized in sensitive areas, fragmenting habitats.
- Climate Consequences: Expanded oil and gas development in the Western Arctic would lock in decades of new carbon pollution.
- Irreversible Rollback: CRA rules bar agencies from issuing a new rule “substantially the same” as the disapproved 2022 IAP, which would make it extremely difficult to restore these protections in the future.
Economic Reality: Oil in the NPR-A Is a Raw Deal for Alaska
As Congress considers removing protections and making more areas open for leasing in the Western Arctic, more data points are becoming clear that Western Arctic drilling isn’t in the interest of the State of Alaska. Alaska’s largest oil project in decades, ConocoPhillips’ Willow project, was recently estimated to cost the State of Alaska more in tax credits than future Willow royalty revenues will provide, after the Alaska Department of Revenue drastically cut revenue projections for the project. Willow is now expected to pay the State of Alaska $2.6 billion over 27 years, while ConocoPhillips stands to earn $10.3 billion in profits.
“Alaska is effectively subsidizing federal oil extraction with state funds that should go to needed infrastructure, education, and other community needs. The result risks some of our most precious public lands, while much needed community needs are going unmet,” said Andy Moderow, Senior Director of Policy for Alaska Wilderness League. “Undoing the 2022 IAP isn’t just bad for the environment, it could exacerbate the state of Alaska’s fiscal crisis.”
Special Areas Under Threat
- Teshekpuk Lake Special Area (≈3.65 million acres): Currently protected from leasing and surface development critical for caribou calving and migratory birds. CRA rollback would open over 1.5 million acres to industrial activity.
- Colville River Special Area (≈2.44 million acres): Currently closed to leasing and protected for raptor nesting cliffs and riparian ecosystems. CRA rollback would remove Special Area designation for this area.
- Utukok River Uplands (≈7.1 million acres): Off-limits under current plan to protect Western Arctic Caribou Herd calving grounds. CRA rollback would reopen roughly half to drilling.
- Peard Bay (≈107,000 acres) and Kasegaluk Lagoon (≈197,000 acres): Critical habitat for waterfowl, seals, and beluga whales would be at risk under industrial development.
Photo credit: Florian Schulz