[Epoch Times] The Department of the Interior (DOI) has reinstated protections against oil and gas development and mining on more than 28 million acres of public lands across Alaska. The protections, which were established in 1971, were removed in January 2021 under the Trump administration.In an Aug. 27 statement, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said the department finalized the decision after an "extensive public process" in which it sought input from Alaska native tribes and native corporations, rural and urban communities, and the general public. Many Alaska native tribes, native corporations, and tribal entities have said the lands are "vital to protecting important natural, cultural, and subsistence resources," Haaland said.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) heard "overwhelming support" from the public about retaining protections across the land, she said.
But not from the Governor.
The DOI’s decision was criticized by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. In a post on social media platform X, Dunleavy accused the DOI of "locking up another 28 million acres of land" and described the decision as a "sanction against Alaska."
Previously, the Biden administration has taken steps to bolster other protections against development in Alaska, including restricting oil and gas extraction on 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and rejecting the proposed construction of a 211-mile industrial access road meant to connect the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District in north-central Alaska.
"They are attempting to turn Alaska into one big national park," the governor said. "Alaska is still owed 5 million acres of land under the Statehood Act. Every one of these sanctions harms Alaska’s ability to prosper."
Elsewhere, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) called the DOI’s decision a "complete betrayal of Alaska native Vietnam-era veterans," and "of the promises that Alaska received when it became a state in 1959. With this record of decision, the Biden-Harris administration has indefinitely restricted from selection more than 98 percent of the lands that Alaskans have been promised they would receive for decades—locking up more than 28 million acres," Sullivan wrote on X.
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