Drilling Lease Sale Coming On Western Arctic Lands; Opponents React With Disdain
Western Alaska gas and oil public lands are currently up for lease, as President Donald Trump pursues new drilling opportunities despite plenty of opposition due to fish and wildlife habitat in the same area.
Unlike the offshore lease sale that brought no bids, today’s first lease sale within the National Petroleum Reserve received plenty of action. From Reuters:
The U.S. government on Wednesday held its most successful sale ever of oil and gas drilling rights in Alaska’s National Petroleum ?Reserve, attracting $163 million in winning bids from industry players including ExxonMobil (XOM.N), opens new tab, ConocoPhillips (COP.N), opens new tab, Repsol (REP.MC), opens new tab ?and Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab.
The sale appeared to show pent-up demand from drillers for acreage in the reserve after more than six years without a federal oil and gas auction. Though it has high development potential, interest ?in the region has waned in recent years due to the high cost of ?drilling in the remote area and risks from environmental litigation.
Governor Mike Dunleavy was thrilled with the sale, continuing his agenda of mining and drilling wherever he can:
Here’s some other reaction, starting with a statement from Grandmothers Growing Goodness, which has sought legal action to delay the lease sale:
Trump Admin Holds Contentious Western Arctic Lease Sale Including Lands Within the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area
(Nuiqsut, Alaska) – The Department of the Interior today held an oil and gas lease sale in the Western Arctic – offering over 600 tracts across approximately 5.5 million acres of public lands. This lease sale is the first of at least five mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Shortly before the lease sale, a federal judge in the U.S. Alaska District Court ruled against a legal effort by Grandmothers Growing Goodness and The Wilderness Society that sought a preliminary injunction against the leasing of 1,591,753 acres of priceless caribou and bird habitat in and around the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area.
Below is a statement from Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, Executive Director of Grandmothers Growing Goodness:
“It is disappointing to see the Court refuse to hold the Trump Administration accountable for selling off lands critical to our health, safety, and way of life for oil and gas development. Although the Court has prevented areas formerly protected by the Nuiqsuit Trilateral right-of-way from being leased, this sale still includes areas that sustain the caribou herd – their habitat, calving grounds, and migration routes. Industrial infrastructure and drilling in these areas threaten to trap caribou in between roads, pipelines, and rigs – putting herds at risk and deflecting them from our hunting grounds. For us, caribou aren’t expendable; they are central to our subsistence, culture, and food security.
Our elected officials should have never included such fragile and irreplaceable lands in this lease sale. And the Courts should not be clearing the path for this Administration to take a wrecking ball to our irreplaceable natural resources. We have stewarded these lands for generations and will not stop now – we must continue spreading goodness over destruction.”
Last month, The Wilderness Society and Grandmothers Growing Goodness filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block this lease sale and the Trump administration’s 2025 Integrated Activity Plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Additional Information:
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act opens vast tracts of public lands—4 million acres per sale—under the 2020 Trump-era Integrated Activity Plan, including a large part of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. Teshekpuk Lake is the largest lake in Arctic Alaska and the third largest in the state, supporting one of the most productive and unique wetland complexes in the circumpolar Arctic. The area is vital for the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd and other wildlife that are integral to Indigenous subsistence practices, supporting hunting, fishing, and gathering.
The Vet Voice background:
Today, the Department of the Interior held an oil and gas lease sale in the Western Arctic, offering over 600 tracts across approximately 5.5 million acres of public lands. This is the first of at least five lease sales mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
In response, Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of the Vet Voice Foundation, released the following statement:
“Like many others, American veterans find solitude and comfort from our nation’s public lands. But the Trump administration is taking every chance they get to sell off public lands in the Arctic and beyond for corporate greed. Today’s lease sale in the Western Arctic, which was mandated by Congress with little public or community input, is a betrayal to all those who love and enjoy this country’s majestic outdoor spaces. Selling off tens of millions of acres of public lands for oil and gas development doesn’t make America great – it makes the U.S. and the world less secure by exacerbating the climate crisis and giving companies free rein to export energy overseas, all while we pay the price with our cherished landscapes and nation’s safety.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act mandates massive oil and gas lease sales in both the Western Arctic (NPR-A) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, threatening critical wildlife habitat, Indigenous communities, and outdoor recreation opportunities that countless veterans rely on for healing, connection, and purpose after service.
Today’s sale includes a large part of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, one of the most productive and unique wetland complexes that is vital for the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd and integral to Indigenous subsistence practices – supporting hunting, fishing, and gathering.
Opening public lands to oil and gas development gives polluting industries unfettered and unregulated access to iconic landscapes that may not see drilling for years down the line. Companies will most likely export their oil and gas to other countries to make higher profits, all while damaging America’s public lands.
Here’s also a statement from the Center for Biological Diversity:
“This lease sale is another demonstration of how the Trump administration is dead-set on selling off every last square inch of America’s Arctic to polluters,” said Rebecca Noblin, Alaska senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These lands and waters are home to polar bears, caribou and migratory birds who all need undisturbed habitat if they’re going to have any chance of surviving climate chaos. Federal officials should permanently protect the Western Arctic, not add insult to injury by pushing more of the fossil fuel extraction that’s already wreaking climate havoc on the region.”
And finally, Earthjustice posted the following:
Several different oil companies bid on the tracts, with the most frequent bidders including ConocoPhillips, Repsol and Shell Frontier, ExxonMobil Alaska, and North Slope Exploration.
“Today’s public-lands auction jeopardizes at-risk Arctic wildlife, burdens people who rely on this irreplaceable landscape, and threatens further harm to the climate,” said Earthjustice Attorney Jeremy Lieb. “With climate change intensifying and energy prices skyrocketing, it’s clear that the best way forward is switching to low-cost, clean energy sources – not attempting to produce more expensive, ecologically destructive Arctic oil.”
“Trump wanted Big Oil to go big in the Arctic, grabbing as many leases as possible and pursuing reckless drilling, despite the many significant risks to the people, species, and surrounding ecosystem,”?said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director at Friends of the Earth U.S.?“The results of this sale will spell disaster for the surrounding area. We will continue to see the Trump administration in court over its blatant disregard of federal law and complete failure to protect this vulnerable and rapidly shrinking area of our planet.”
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