Bureau Of Land Management Announces Protection Of D-1 Alaska Public Lands (Updating)
The Bureau of Land Management today announced it would follow through on a previously announced plan to protect 28 million acres of public land around Alaska, known as the D-1 lands.
BLM posted the following press release:
Biden-Harris Administration Affirms Protection of 28 Million Acres of Public Lands in Alaska
Areas remain open for selection by Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans
08/27/2024
Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov
WASHINGTON — Following an extensive public process, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today finalized the decision to retain protections for 28 million acres of public lands across Alaska, which many Alaska Native Tribes, Native Corporations and Tribal entities have noted are vital to protecting important natural, cultural and subsistence resources. Today’s action comes in response to the previous Administration’s unlawful decision in its final days to end the longstanding protections (known as withdrawals) without sufficient analysis of the potential impacts of such a decision on subsistence and other important resources, appropriate Tribal consultation, and without compliance with other legal requirements. This sweeping action would have opened millions of acres of public lands to extractive development activities, such as mining and oil and gas drilling, and removed the federal subsistence priority from millions of acres.
The previous Administration’s decision was put on hold to ensure full consideration of the potential impacts and allow for engagement with the public and Alaska Native communities. The robust public process gathered input from Alaska Native Tribes and Native Corporations, rural and urban communities, and the public, including 19 community meetings. During the public comment period, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) heard overwhelming support for retaining the withdrawals. In total, the BLM received approximately 15,000 public comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
“Tribal consultation must be treated as a requirement – not an option – when the federal government is making decisions that could irrevocably affect Tribal communities. I am grateful to the team at the Bureau of Land Management for taking the time to ensure that we approached this decision with the benefit of feedback from Alaska Native communities, and to the Tribal leaders who shared with us the impact that a potential revocation of the withdrawals would have on their people,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Continuing these essential protections, which have been in place for decades, will ensure continued access and use of these public lands now and in the future.”
Today’s announcement builds on the Biden-Harris administration’s actions to conserve millions of acres of lands and waters in Alaska, including implementing maximum protections for more than 13 million acres of Special Areas in the western Arctic, protecting approximately 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea to place the entire United States Arctic Ocean off limits to new oil and gas leasing, and preventing irrevocable harms to Tribal subsistence uses and permafrost at the base of the iconic Brooks Range by rejecting the Ambler Road proposal.
The Record of Decision and associated Public Land Order adopt and implement the BLM’s preferred “No Action” alternative in the final EIS, which analyzed the environmental consequences of the previous Administration’s decision. The BLM analyzed a set of alternatives ranging from partial to full revocation. The BLM’s analysis found that revoking any of the protections would likely harm subsistence hunting and fishing in communities that would lose federal subsistence priority over certain lands, ranging from 44 to 117 communities, depending on the alternative. The analysis also found that lifting all or even some of the withdrawals could have lasting negative impacts on wildlife, vegetation and permafrost.
These withdrawals, established pursuant to Section 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), stretch across BLM’s Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward Peninsula and Ring of Fire planning areas.
Today’s decision does not impact acres already available for selection by eligible individuals under the Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans Land Allotment Program. Secretary Haaland has made these lands available to the approximately 1,900 Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans eligible to select their 160-acre land entitlement under the Dingell Act.
The Public Land Order will be published in the Federal Register later this week.
Here’s also reaction from Mother Kuskokwim, a tribal organization dedicated to protect lands around the Donlin Mine in the Yukon-Kuskowim River Delta in Southwestern Alaska:
Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition celebrates protection from mining on BLM lands adjacent to Donlin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 27, 2024
BETHEL, ALASKA — The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition celebrates the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s announcement today that it is moving forward with protections for 28 million acres of D1 lands across Alaska, including several million acres in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region, and asks the Biden Administration to move forward with the coalition’s request to protect all adjacent lands and waters under federal jurisdiction in the Kuskokwim River system.
“Secretary Haaland’s decision today is an important step toward a future full of healthy lands, waters, and people who thrive on wild salmon, waterfowl, other migratory animals, and seasonal plant life,” said Anaan’arar Sophie Swope, Executive Director of Mother Kuskokwim. “Our Yukon-Kuskokwim region’s wetlands are vital to our people’s way of life. We are grateful to Secretary Haaland for these protections and hope for further BLM action to include and reign in the dangerous and destructive Donlin Gold project’s 315-mile pipeline. These actions would ensure future generations’ ability to safely live on the land while carrying our customary and traditional knowledge.”
Many of the D1 lands in the region are the headwaters of river systems. They are important to whitefish, sheefish, salmon, many other fish species, caribou, moose, waterfowl, and other migratory birds — and to people.
The Trump Administration attempted to roll back Alaska’s D1 protections, which have been in place under section 17 (d) 1 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act for more than 50 years, during the final days of its administration — without even notifying Tribes. The Biden Administration paused that action during its first days in office. During a 2023 comment period, the Bureau of Land Management held 19 hearings around Alaska, including one in Bethel, where testimony was unanimous in support of protections. State-wide, over half of Alaska’s federally recognized Tribes stood in solidarity to keep all protections in place. Several Native Corporations including Calista also submitted comments in support of no the ‘no action’ alternative which would keep all protections in place.
2.2 million acres of D1 lands closely surround Crooked Creek, the proposed mine site for the Donlin Gold mine, in the Kuskokwim River system. D1 lands also connect important migratory routes for both salmon and caribou, and they are vital to Indigenous and rural food security, with 21,139,400 acres of D1 lands designated as Federal Subsistence Lands.
Learn more about Mother Kuskokwim at https://nodonlingold.org.
UPDATE: United Tribes of Bristol Bay with a statement:
Bristol Bay Tribes Celebrate BLM Decision to Protect 28 Million Acres in Alaska
Dillingham, Alaska — Today, we express our gratitude to Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Biden Administration for taking a monumental step to protect 28 million acres of federally-managed “D-1” lands in Alaska, including 1.2 million acres in the Bristol Bay region. This decision is a significant victory for the Tribal communities across Alaska, whose voices have been crucial in advocating for the protection of these lands.
The threat of opening these long-protected lands to extractive development was a grave concern for Bristol Bay communities. The BLM’s final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and the Secretary’s decision confirm the importance of retaining protections on D-1 lands. These lands are vital to the health of our lands and waters that sustain the Yup’ik, Dena’ina, and Alutiiq traditional subsistence ways of life for our Tribal communities.
“We are thankful that Secretary Haaland and the Biden Administration have listened to the voices of the majority of federally recognized Tribes in Alaska,” said Alannah Hurley, Executive Director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay (UTBB). “The final decision to protect these lands is a testament to the strength and unity of our Tribal communities and safeguards our cultural and spiritual vitality that sustains our way of life. We are deeply grateful for this commitment to uphold the responsibilities to Alaska Native Tribes and ensure the continued protection of D-1 lands.”
Over the past two years, UTBB has been actively involved in BLM’s environmental reviews, advocating for the protection of D-1 lands as essential to the survival of Yup’ik, Dena’ina, and Alutiiq traditional ways of life.
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ABOUT THE UNITED TRIBES OF BRISTOL BAY
UTBB is a Tribal consortium working to protect the traditional Yup’ik, Dena’ina, and Alutiiq ways of life in Southwest Alaska that depend on the pristine Bristol Bay watershed and all it sustains, most notably Bristol Bay’s wild salmon. UTBB represents 15 federally recognized Tribes in Bristol Bay which constitutes over 80 percent of the region’s population.
UPDATE: Here’s more from Earthjustice:
The Department of the Interior Finalizes Protections for 28 Million Acres of Public Lands in Alaska
Earthjustice joins Tribes in applauding the safeguarding of Alaska’s federally-managed lands critical for food security and the protection of intact ecosystems
ANCHORAGE, AK – The Department of Interior (DOI) affirmed the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) recommendation today by upholding continued protections for 28 million acres of lands under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). This decision ensures these critically important ecological areas will continue to be safeguarded against fossil fuel leasing, hard rock mining and other extractive development.
The DOI’s Record of Decision (ROD) finalizes the recommendation of a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) issued by the BLM on June 28 that studied the possibility of lifting protections on these critical lands. The Trump administration tried to open these lands to industrial development but, thankfully, they did not complete that work.
Under pressure from those who still wanted to develop these lands, the BLM agreed to study the environmental consequences of lifting protections for these D-1 lands. In its FEIS, the BLM recommended maintaining the existing D-1 protections to protect the health and resilience of Alaska’s ecosystems, and to protect subsistence hunting, fishing, and gathering for Alaska Native peoples.
The lands are named D-1 lands because they are protected by section 17 (d)(1) of ANCSA. The lands that were under reconsideration for development crisscross Northwest, Southwest, Southcentral and Southeast Alaska. They support significant salmon populations, large caribou herds, important migratory bird habitat for hundreds of migrating species, and many other fish and wildlife species.
These D-1 protections were put into place to ensure that the public interest in these lands was considered, including preserving food access within these ecologically rich areas for Alaska Native peoples and communities.
“We’re celebrating today with the Alaska Tribes who led this effort to keep these critical lands protected for now and for future generations,” said Charisse Arce, Earthjustice Senior Attorney. “DOI’s decision today reinforced what Tribes and others have known all along: these intact lands hold vital cultural, biological, and ecological values. We are grateful that a thorough reevaluation by BLM resulted in upholding these important protections.”
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