The Interior Department announced Friday it is revoking two public land withdrawals along a highway important to the oil and mining industries in Alaska after the state accused the Biden administration of reneging on a promise to do so two years ago.
The issue involves Interior issuing a public land order that would lift restrictions on the use of federal lands covering more than 2 million acres along a significant stretch of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and a highway used by the oil industry.
The state has long sought access to those lands, which are critical to the future of its oil economy. It wants them turned over to Alaska as part of its ongoing efforts to gain title to millions of acres of land currently under federal ownership.
The Bureau of Land Management was supposed to launch an analysis into lifting the restrictions but then abruptly changed course in 2024, sparking an angry response from Alaska’s elected leaders.
