Overview
- The Interior Department finalized a plan to make the roughly 1.5–1.56 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain available for leasing, reversing Biden-era limits.
- Canceled ANWR leases held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority were reinstated after a federal judge ruled in March that the prior cancellations exceeded executive authority.
- Interior also advanced a broader Alaska package, including a land exchange to enable a King Cove–Cold Bay road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and reissued right-of-way actions tied to the Ambler Road project.
- BLM began steps for a National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska lease sale expected this winter, which would be the first since 2019, and opened public comment on multiple actions through Nov. 21.
- Conservation groups and Gwich'in leaders pledged legal challenges over threats to wildlife and cultural resources, while some Iñupiat organizations backed development; industry interest remains uncertain after a recent ANWR sale drew no bids.