The shifts between recent presidential administrations have significantly impacted Alaska’s North Slope. The Trump administration aimed to expand oil drilling into sensitive habitats, while the Biden administration allowed some drilling, offering broader protections intended to last.
Currently, efforts by a second Trump administration are focused on increasing oil company access, even in areas Iñupiat people consider vulnerable.
On Tuesday, environmentalists and an Iñupiat group filed lawsuits to block a March lease sale of 5.5 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, largely undeveloped wilderness. This sale includes the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd calving grounds, a crucial subsistence source for Iñupiat communities like Nuiqsut. Some areas have never been leased before and were protected by a Bureau of Land Management agreement signed in 2024, which was canceled by the Trump administration in December.
“We’ve been through so much, and there were promises given to us that this area would be protected,” said Rosemary Ahtuangaruak of Grandmothers Growing Goodness, a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits. “Now they’re ripping out these promises.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior, which manages the reserve, declined to comment.
Drilling could push deeper into caribou habitats. The Biden administration’s approval of ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil project in 2023 is already advancing westward. Last year, an exploration program was permitted. Recently, an oil rig toppled onto the tundra, spilling diesel fuel.
These activities have challenged caribou migrations, impacting hunting for local communities. “If they don’t come through,” Ahtuangaruak said, “it’s a long dark winter.”
Many Nuiqsut households are struggling with food security. Importing food is costly, making local subsistence vital. According to the lawsuit, some families experience times without enough to eat.
The Trump administration reversed Biden’s steps for protection, culminating in the decision to cancel a right of way agreement, intended to allow local leaders to protect critical lands from oil activity.
The lease sale was mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, championed by President Trump. Ben Tettlebaum, acting senior legal director at The Wilderness Society, which filed the lawsuit with Grandmothers Growing Goodness, emphasized the reserve’s ecological significance and its importance to North Slope communities.
A second lawsuit challenging the lease sale was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth. Indigenous groups are also pursuing legal action to block plans for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development.
Ahtuangaruak, opposing oil expansion near Nuiqsut, describes an uphill battle. “We’re left living with the risk of what they’re doing to change our lands and waters,” she said.
Original Story at insideclimatenews.org