Alaska Sues Federal Government Over Curbs to Oil and Gas Leases

Legal action preceded a Jan. 8 Department of Interior notice to restrict lease auctions to only 400,000 acres of an Arctic wildlife refuge.

Map of northern Alaska and nearby parts of Canada showing locations of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the 1002 area, and the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska (NPRA). USGS

The state of Alaska is suing the federal government over the Department of Interior’s (DOI) alleged “unlawful detour” in restricting oil and gas lease auctions to about 400,000 acres within the 19.6-million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor filed the lawsuit on Jan. 7 in anticipation of the DOI’s Jan. 8 announcement that the Bureau of Land Management had received “no interest” from oil companies in bidding for leases within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) coastal plain.