The Bureau of Land Management will hold a lease sale on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in January, marking one of the last actions of a presidential administration once adamantly opposed to drilling in the remote location renowned for its unspoiled land and wildlife.
BLM said Monday that the agency would open up 400,000 acres of ANWR land in Alaska for leasing, holding a sale on Jan. 9 that is required under a 2017 law. The land is concentrated within the northwest portion of ANWR’s sweeping coastal plain.
The sale of ANWR drilling rights has been a foregone conclusion since the passage of the 2017 Tax Act, which mandated two sales in the vast Arctic refuge. A first sale, held during the Trump administration, was widely regarded as a bust and was largely scuttled by Biden administration executive orders.
During the 2020 campaign, President Joe Biden vowed that he would stop oil and gas drilling in ANWR. But the administration hasn’t moved to reverse the congressional mandate for oil and gas sales, which are a priority for state political leaders.
