"JUNEAU, Alaska The Trump administration on Thursday finalized plans to open the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to potential oil and gas drilling, renewing a long-simmering debate over whether to drill in one of the nation's environmental jewels. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the decision Thursday that paves the way for future lease sales within the refuge's 1.5 million-acre ( 631,309 hectare) coastal plain, an area that's considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich'in."
"Leaders in Indigenous Gwich'in communities near the refuge consider the coastal plain sacred, noting its importance to a caribou herd they rely upon, and they oppose drilling there. Leaders of Kaktovik, an Inupiaq community within the refuge, support drilling and consider responsible oil development to be key to their region's economic well-being. "It is encouraging to see decisionmakers in Washington advancing policies that respect our voice and support Kaktovik's long term success," Kaktovik Inupiat Corp. President Charles "CC" Lampe said in a statement."
The Interior Department finalized plans to open the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to potential oil and gas drilling. The decision enables future lease sales on the coastal plain and fulfills pledges tied to the recent tax and spending legislation that requires at least four lease sales over ten years. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the plan alongside Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state's congressional delegation and moved to restore previously canceled refuge leases. Indigenous Gwich'in leaders oppose drilling because of cultural and caribou herd dependencies. Kaktovik leaders and the village corporation support responsible development for regional economic benefits.
Read at www.npr.org
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