U.S. land management bureau plans to hold oil and gas lease sale for Alaska's Arctic refuge

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to hold an oil and gas lease sale for Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) next month, weeks before President-elect Joe Biden, who has opposed drilling in the region, is set to take office.

Conservation groups criticized Thursday's announcement as rushed and based on environmental reviews that are being challenged in court as flawed.

"Today we put the oil industry on notice. Any oil companies that bid on lease sales for the coastal plain of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should brace themselves for an uphill legal battle fraught with high costs and reputational risks," Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement.

The announcement from the Trump administration comes less than three weeks after it called for nominations, and just days after Bank of America joined other large U.S. banks that have said they wouldn't finance Arctic oil development, according to a statement to CBC News from Alaska Wilderness League.

Adam Kolton, executive director of the league, says drilling in the Arctic refuge "makes zero sense" and that the lease sale of the refuge is yet another "dangerous political favour that lacks broad public support or legal credibility."

"The fact that the sale will be officially noticed on December 7, one day after we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Arctic Refuge … symbolizes the degree to which the president has taken a wrecking ball to decades of bipartisan conservation support," Kolton's statement read in part.

Alaska political leaders pushed to open area for exploration

Alaska's Republican congressional delegation celebrated the passage of legislation in 2017 allowing for drilling in the refuge's 1.5-million-acre coastal plain, seeing it as a way to boost oil production, create jobs and generate royalties. The legislation called for at least two lease sales to be held within 10 years.

Alaska political leaders for years pushed for opening the area for exploration in a state that relies heavily on oil. But the Indigenous Gwich'in people have opposed development within the refuge, citing concerns about the effects on a caribou herd that they have relied on for subsistence. Conservation groups also have fought drilling in the refuge.

In a lawsuit filed in August, opponents alleged that the Bureau of Land Management failed to adequately consider potential effects of a leasing program on climate change, polar bears, caribou and other resources in its environmental review.

Last month, the land agency announced a 30-day period for parties to nominate or comment on land in the refuge's coastal plain that could be part of a sale. It said it also would seek comments on whether the size of any tracts of land should be reduced and whether any should receive special considerations.

The agency said a notice that solicits bids would be published at least 30 days ahead of the sale, which it expects to hold on Jan. 6. However, the comment period was not set to end until Dec. 17.

The Bureau of Land Management did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Companies not likely to discuss plans publicly

Its Alaska director, Chad Padgett, said in a news release that oil and gas from the coastal plain "is an important resource for meeting our nation's long-term energy demands and will help create jobs and economic opportunities."

Kara Moriarty, president and CEO of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, said companies are not likely to discuss publicly any plans to participate in a lease sale for competitive reasons.

With the announced timeline, she said companies will have less time to prepare bids. But she said the area is not unknown.

"It's an area that people have been aware of ... for over 40 years," she said.

The Trump administration has moved forward with other oil and gas projects in the state, including approving development plans within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said would make "a significant contribution" to keeping oil flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline for years to come. This fall's decision is being challenged in court.

But the administration halted another resource development project last month, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declined to provide key approvals for a gold and copper mine near a major salmon fishery.

The proposed Pebble Mine has long been controversial, with critics and supporters having claimed that decisions on the project were political. Alaska's Republican U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, came out against the project in August. President Donald Trump's eldest son also opposed it.