Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the approval Thursday of a suite of new policy directives in Alaska aimed at opening large swaths of federal lands in the state to energy development and mining, as well as moving forward with a long-sought-after road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
Among the policy measures Burgum announced is the signing of an order to reopen the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling, reversing a Biden administration decision that had halted development in the area along Alaska’s north coast.
Burgum as part of his decision reinstated seven oil and gas leases purchased by the state of Alaska for drilling in the coastal plain. The Biden administration had canceled the leases in 2023, but a federal court in March ordered the leases to be reinstated.
Burgum also announced the agency is taking the decisive action to advance construction of the Ambler mining road, a 211-mile-long gravel road slated to dissect swaths of pristine wilderness in Alaska to provide access to a remote mining district in northwestern Alaska.
