Indigenous Leaders, Environmental Organizations Support Biden Administration Announcement Soliciting Feedback on Expanding and Strengthening Protections for Special Areas in the Western Arctic

Today, the Biden administration announced that the Department of the Interior will seek input on whether to initiate a process to expand existing Special Areas or establish new Special Areas in the Western Arctic, also known as the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (Reserve). This announcement comes at a vital time – America’s Arctic is on the front line of climate change, warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, and threats to this landscape from oil and gas are growing.  

“This is an opportunity for the BLM to identify new Special Area possibilities with direct input from experts in the cultural and ecological values that define these lands,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, senior Alaska Program Director for Defenders of Wildlife. “Defenders’ will make the argument for expanded protections in areas crucial to Arctic wildlife.”  

With this announcement, the Bureau of Land Management is taking steps to implement Congress’ directive from nearly 50 years ago – to ensure that important lands, waters, and wildlife in the Reserve are provided maximum protections under the law.  

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The Reserve is the nation’s largest single unit of public lands, spanning nearly 23 million acres. Vast and diverse, the Reserve contains vital habitats for wildlife like polar bears, muskox, and millions of migratory birds. It is home to three caribou herds, including the 150,000-strong Western Arctic Caribou Herd. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration announced that it was affirming protections for more than 13 million acres of the Reserve that were first adopted in 2013. These protected landscapes are known as Special Areas, designated places that have significant ecological significance – including Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay.  

Members of the Arctic Defense Campaign shared the following statements:  

“This announcement by the Biden administration is another opportunity towards advancing protections on ancestral lands for our communities in the Arctic. These steady and incremental steps towards protecting lands, water, wildlife, and traditional ways of life are creating a path towards more empowered community involvement.  This is vital for balancing the systematic disempowerment that’s happened in our region for decades.  Many forget how recent these massive shifts have happened.  In my Aaka’s (Grandmother’s) lifetime, she witnessed the transition from living a traditional lifestyle to experiencing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System being constructed and oil fields erected close enough to her traditional lands to be seen, heard, and lead to evacuations for Nuiqsut (the most impacted village from oil and gas development on the north slope of Alaska) as recently as 2022.  We welcome this most recent announcement, and will continue to work towards building stronger communities in ways that lead to autonomy and self-determination on our traditional lands,” said Nauri Simmonds, Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic.

“Today’s news is the result of a steadfast commitment from a diverse and tireless coalition of outdoor recreationalists, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, activists, scientists and key government leaders, and we thank the Biden administration for taking this action to protect the Western Arctic. The Western Arctic is the largest tract of U.S. public land, home to hundreds of species at increased risk from a warming climate and to Indigenous communities who have lived off the land for millennia. New drilling in the Reserve would further threaten the region and lock the U.S. into decades of fossil fuel production. In a time when so many issues divide us, protecting nature unites us,’ said Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia.

“Signs of climate change are everywhere this summer, yet Big Oil and its backers remain bent on drilling for oil in America’s Arctic, a region warming four times faster than the rest of the world. We're encouraged that Interior has initiated a new process that will hopefully deliver on the protections the law has always required for special areas in the Western Arctic, and we will work to ensure it results in stronger safeguards from oil development for wildlife and vital subsistence resources like caribou and birds,” said Earthjustice attorney Erik Grafe.  

“There's no place else on earth quite like the Western Arctic and the animals there are as unique and majestic as the landscape. Any opportunity to preserve Arctic wildlife, especially caribou, is crucial as we confront the impacts of climate change. These special animals need as much help as we can give them as warming temperatures threaten to permanently degrade their habitat,” said Ellen Montgomery, Public Lands Campaign Director, Environment America. “We welcome this announcement from the Biden administration to protect more nature. We’re happy to see that this process is moving forward quickly and we look forward to engaging with the administration.”

“The Department of the Interior's announcement today is a great step toward conserving the Arctic's ecological and cultural significance," said Raena Garcia, Senior Fossil Fuel and Lands Campaigner at Friends of the Earth. "But these protections should not stop at today's announcement. DOI must establish additional safeguards to prevent the irreversible environmental harm that oil and gas projects like Willow pose to our climate and communities."

“We welcome the opportunity to provide input on how to best protect the lands, clean air and water, and other resources of the Western Arctic for generations to come, “ said Meda DeWitt, interim Alaska state director for The Wilderness Society. “This is an important step toward managing the Western Arctic in a way that honors the needs of the region’s Indigenous peoples, wildlife and other globally significant resource values, while recognizing the threat that climate change poses to Arctic peoples, conservation and communities around the world.”  

“Congress has required maximum protection of designated special areas in the Reserve for nearly 50 years to preserve fish and wildlife, cultural resources, recreation opportunities, and subsistence foods and traditions,” said Suzanne Bostrom, senior staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska. “We welcome this long overdue and much needed process to ensure that those mandated protections are up to date and fully take into consideration what’s needed to sustain the health of the region now and for generations to come.” 

“If enacted, these proposed protections would be another historic move towards long-term preservation of America’s Arctic," said Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program. "From canceling oil and gas leases in the Arctic Refuge to boosting protections for 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, the Biden administration has made significant progress in safeguarding these landscapes and the communities and wildlife that rely on them. The Arctic is at the frontline of climate change. President Biden is making it the frontline of climate action.”