1.56 Million Acres, Every One of Them
The Bureau of Land Management is moving to open every acre of the 1.56-million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing. The first lease sale was announced for June 5, 2026. The plan includes minimal protections for the area’s wildlife, including the Porcupine caribou herd, polar bears, and migratory birds that depend on the coastal plain for calving and nesting.
1.56 million acres of Arctic Refuge coastal plain opened to drilling. First lease sale June 5, 2026.
The Arctic Refuge has been protected from development for over 40 years. It is one of the last intact ecosystems in North America. The Gwich’in Nation, whose food sovereignty depends on the caribou herd, has opposed drilling for decades.
How It Happened
The One Big Beautiful Bill, signed July 4, 2025, mandated drilling in the Arctic Refuge and required quarterly oil and gas lease sales across more than 200 million acres of federal public land nationwide. The bill removed agency discretion to protect sensitive areas and limited public input and judicial review.
Separately, Congress used the Congressional Review Act to reverse Biden-era protections. In December 2025, the Senate voted 49-45 to strip protections from the Arctic Refuge. The House had already voted to overturn conservation rules for both the Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The Biden administration had affirmed protection of 28 million acres of Alaska public lands in its final year. Those protections lasted less than six months.
200 Million Acres
The Arctic Refuge is the most visible piece, but the bill’s mandate covers 200 million acres of federal land. Quarterly lease sales mean continuous offering of public land for fossil fuel extraction. The mandate removes the ability of land management agencies to decline to lease areas with environmental, cultural, or recreational value.
Conservation groups have filed lawsuits challenging the lease sales and the environmental review process. The legal battles will take years. The drilling could begin sooner.
Read more on the Environment hub and the PFAS water rollback brief.