Biden administration sets stage for minimal 2nd lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Biden administration on Wednesday issued a final environmental review for a second lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The administration also identified a preferred alternative for the sale that would offer 400,000 acres in the refuge’s coastal plain, the minimum acreage required by Congress for the sale in the 2017 Tax Act.

The goal is limiting the footprint where seismic exploration could take place and avoiding sensitive polar bear dens and caribou herd calving areas, the U.S. Interior Department said in a prepared statement.

The potential surface disturbance would be limited and would include “no surface occupancy” provisions to avoid ground disturbance in certain areas.

A date for the lease sale has not been set, but it must be held by Dec. 22.

The announcement came the day after Donald Trump won a second presidential term. Trump, who is aggressively pro-resource extraction, has said he will once again push for drilling in the refuge. Alaska Republicans who favor resource development are celebrating Trump’s victory, saying drilling in the refuge is much more likely to take place under his administration.

The 2017 Tax Act, signed by Trump, required the federal government to hold two lease sales in the coastal plain of the refuge. After the final environmental review for the sale, the Biden administration will choose a leasing alternative, then offer leases for sale to companies.

The first lease sale was held in 2021 under Trump. President Joe Biden’s administration canceled the small number of leases issued in that sale, saying it did not meet legal requirements.

Most of the leases were sold to an Alaska development agency that is suing the federal government over the cancellation. The agency, the Alaska Industrial and Export Development Authority, is preparing to buy more leases in the second sale.

The first lease sale saw no interest from major oil companies and was largely considered a flop.

The Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat and the village of Kaktovik, the only community inside the boundary of the refuge, said they oppose the proposed leasing plan released by the Biden administration Wednesday because it ignores them.

The Voice group, representing elected Iñupiat leaders from the North Slope, supports oil and gas development in the refuge.

The group said in a prepared statement that its members support the advancement of a lease sale. But the action comes too soon after a large majority of voters from across the U.S. rejected the Biden administration’s policy agenda with the election. The Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat said it rejects “the federal government’s unilateral policy decisions in the region.”

“There is a majority consensus of elected leadership across the North Slope, including Kaktovik, that responsible resource development is essential to maintaining our economic security and way of life,” said Rex Rock Sr., president of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. “We remain united against any attack on our self-determination.”

“The federal government’s latest actions are shameful and will have serious consequences for Kaktovik and the North Slope,” said Josiah Patkotak, North Slope Borough mayor. “With this latest development, DOI has soundly rejected the opportunity to partner in our effort to aptly balance development and preservation in our region. This administration has moved beyond ignoring our appeals to now seeking to remove us from the picture entirely.”

The Neets’ąįį Gwich’in tribal governments of Arctic Village and Venetie, who oppose development in the refuge, joined conservation groups on Wednesday in calling for a halt to the proposed lease sale.

The Alaska Native tribes said the leasing program proposed under Biden is an improvement over the Trump administration program.

But they renewed their call for permanent protection of the refuge to safeguard the Porcupine caribou herd that they hunt and consider a sacred part of their culture.

“We are steadfast in urging Congress to repeal the leasing program in the Arctic Refuge and put in place permanent protections for the Arctic Refuge, ensuring the Neets’ąįį Gwich’in people can continue to exist as they have since time immemorial,” said RaeAnn Garnett, first chief of the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government.

The tribes over the last year have pressed the Biden administration to establish an Indigenous sacred site in the coastal plain to protect the caribou.

“Oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge is obviously a catastrophe for wildlife and the climate, but these lease sales are also a scam that costs taxpayers,” said Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Lease sale interest in the Arctic Refuge has been preposterously propped up by the state as Alaska’s government tries to hide the fact that every oil and gas company in the world has walked away from drilling there.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.