What Happened
On his first day in office, President Trump signed Executive Order 14153, “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.” The order directed federal agencies to fast-track oil, gas, and mining access across tens of millions of acres of protected Alaska wilderness. Eighteen months later, the administration has followed through on nearly every line of it.
The Bureau of Land Management revoked protections on more than 13 million acres of the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in November 2025. In March 2026, BLM held the first NPR-A lease sale since 2019, selling drilling rights on 1.3 million acres to 11 oil companies for a record $163.7 million.
The Interior Department then opened 2.1 million acres along the Dalton Corridor to mining and industrial development. This land north of the Yukon River had been protected for decades.
BLM also opened the entire 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, with a lease sale set for June 5, 2026 covering 58 tracts across nearly 700,000 acres. No commercial oil drilling has ever happened in the Arctic Refuge.
Meanwhile, Alaska’s economic development agency approved spending up to $190 million on seismic testing and lease bids in the Refuge, including $175 million for seismic testing alone.
What’s at Stake
| Area | Acres affected | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska | 13 million | Biden-era conservation protections revoked; 5.5 million acres offered for lease sale |
| Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain | 1.56 million | Entire coastal plain opened to oil and gas leasing for first time |
| Dalton Corridor (north of Yukon River) | 2.1 million | Opened to mining and industrial development after decades of protection |
| Tongass National Forest | 9.3 million | Roadless Rule removal proposed, opening old-growth forest to logging and road building |
| Interior Alaska planning areas | 28 million | Public Land Orders 7899-7903 revoked, removing protections across five planning regions |
| Total | ~54 million |
The Center for American Progress calculated that across all states, the administration has stripped protections from roughly 88 million acres of public land. Alaska accounts for more than half of that total.
“The administration stripped protections from 44.7 million acres of ancestral homelands, including the Tongass National Forest.” — Alaska Wilderness League
The Willow project, approved under Biden and upheld by the 9th Circuit in 2025, is now half-built with first oil expected in 2029. Senator Lisa Murkowski called it “the first step” in attracting the industry interest that produced the record NPR-A lease sale.
Legal Challenges
Conservation groups and Alaska Native communities are fighting back. The Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Biological Diversity, and Friends of the Earth have filed lawsuits challenging both the NPR-A and Arctic Refuge lease sales. Earthjustice filed a legal challenge to the Coastal Plain drilling plan. The village of Nuiqsut sued the Interior Department after it cancelled a subsistence protection agreement tied to Teshekpuk Lake.
What You Can Do
- Go to resist.bot and tell your senators to oppose any further lease sales in the Arctic Refuge and NPR-A. Resist Bot will walk you through contacting your representatives in under two minutes.
- Submit a public comment on the Tongass National Forest plan revision before the comment period closes.
- Visit the Environment hub for more actions on public land protections, including the bison grazing fight and the Public Lands Rule repeal.
- Share this with anyone who hunts, fishes, or camps on public land. These rollbacks affect every American, not just Alaskans.