1. OIL AND GAS:
Interior backs off drilling in Alaskan wetlands

The Interior Department will not open several hundred thousand acres of Alaskan wetlands to oil and gas development for at least a decade, according to a revised final plan released today for the northeast section of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Interior's Bureau of Land Management's revised plan says it is deferring leasing for 10 years in 430,000 acres north and east of Teshekpuk Lake in the 4.6-million-acre northeast section of the reserve. Go to story #1