Alaska’s iconic and vital lands are under attack

True to the promise of “drill, baby, drill,” leaders in Washington are doubling down on attacks against Alaska’s wildlands, even during a government shutdown.

This month alone (October, 2025), the administration has opened the entire coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, reissued permits for the proposed Ambler Road, and announced plans to open roughly 16 million acres of the Western Arctic to new leasing.

These actions put corporate profit over the health of Alaska Native communities, sacred lands and wildlife, threatening landscapes that have been protected for decades. 

The Department of the Interior announced a plan to open every acre of the 1.56-million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to industrial oil and gas leasing and development—with minimal protections for the area’s sensitive resources.

This is the most extreme attack yet on one of the largest intact ecosystems left on Earth—ignoring climate science, Indigenous rights and past environmental rulings.

The Arctic Refuge is vital to the Gwich’in and Iñupiaq peoples, whose survival and traditions are inseparable from the Porcupine Caribou Herd that calves on the coastal plain. The freedom to feed their communities and retain their cultures by relying on the caribou and other natural resources of the refuge is essential for Indigenous peoples to sustain their way of life now and for future generations. 

Oil and gas exploration and drilling would have devastating impacts on this intact and fragile ecosystem, caused by the massive infrastructure needed to extract and transport oil as well as inevitable spills of oil and other toxic substances.    

Earlier in the month, President Trump approved the controversial and widely opposed Ambler Road project—a proposed 211-mile private industrial corridor that would carve across some of Alaska’s wildest landscapes and part of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. At the same time, the administration announced the investment of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars in the foreign mining company that the road is meant to serve.

Now, the administration has doubled down by reissuing the rights-of-way and Clean Water Act permit needed to move the project forward. If built, the road would work for the benefit of private industry to access the Ambler Mining District. It would harm caribou habitat, salmon-bearing rivers and wildlands that sustain the people of Alaska, which is why the previous administration decided against approving the project.

Dozens of Alaska Native governments, as well as the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group, have submitted resolutions and letters opposing the Ambler Road. Yet the administration continues to fast-track it to benefit foreign mining corporations.  

The Interior Department also announced plans to open roughly 16 million acres of the Western Arctic, including the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, to new oil and gas leasing. Teshekpuk Lake, the largest lake in the American Arctic, shelters the Teshekpuk caribou herd during calving season and provides nesting habitat for countless vulnerable birds. Indigenous communities rely on its resources for sustenance and cultural continuity.

For decades, this region has been recognized as too sensitive to drill. Opening it now would destroy habitat, accelerate the climate crisis and threaten communities who have cared for these lands since time immemorial. 

Taken together, these actions show a clear pattern: dismantling decades of protections to hand Alaska’s lands to the oil and gas and mining industries. And by making these announcements during a government shutdown, the administration minimized oversight, transparency and public input.

These actions are being sold as efforts to “boost energy production” and “unlock Alaska’s potential.” But it really is about profit. The Ambler Road would serve a foreign-owned mining company, not Alaskans or the nation. Likewise, opening millions of acres of the Arctic Refuge and Western Arctic to oil and gas leasing will only enrich polluters while putting irreplaceable lands, wildlife and Indigenous communities at risk.

The truth is, we don’t need more drilling or leasing on public lands. Oil companies are already sitting on thousands of unused leases (81 percent of BLM lands in the West are open to oil and gas leasing!). Expanding fossil fuel development now only deepens the climate crisis, harms local communities and sacrifices landscapes for short-term profit. 

The Wilderness Society has been defending Alaska’s wildlands for decades, and we’re not stopping now. We’re ready to challenge these attacks, mobilize support and take action—but we need your help.