Trump Administration aims to revoke protections for the Western Arctic

by | Jul 24, 2025

A close up photograph of a red-throated loon sitting among dry, tan grass and looking slightly to the top right of the image with a bright red eye.

A red-throated loon. Photo by Ken Madsen

In June, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced plans to revoke protections for the Western Arctic’s National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, once again prioritizing oil and gas industry interests. 

In 2023, more than 250,000 people commented overwhelmingly in favor of new protections for the Western Arctic during a robust public process under the Biden administration, backed by sound science and strong community input. While the Biden administration took action to protect this land, the 2024 Reserve rule did not close the door on oil and gas; it was a long overdue change to make it clear that areas of special ecological and cultural value were on equal footing with industry. 

Under this Reserve rule, there was also a process to consider new or expanded Special Areas, like the Indigenous-led proposal for a Nuiqsut Subsistence Use Special Area.   

Now, the Trump administration’s decision to rescind new safeguards for the Reserve’s five Special Areas—Teshekpuk Lake, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, Peard Bay, and the Utukok River Uplands—could have devastating impacts for community subsistence access and critical habitat for fish, caribou, and millions of migratory birds. 

Here are just a few of the harms revoking Special Area protections would cause:

  • New pipelines, roads, and air traffic will harm the Teshekpuk caribou herd by inhibiting their ability to migrate freely to and from their calving grounds.
  • Indigenous communities like Nuiqsut rely on the Teshekpuk caribou herd and are already living with the health impacts of being largely surrounded by oil and gas infrastructure, like increased respiratory conditions.
  • Migratory birds—like the yellow-billed loon, pacific black brant, and threatened spectacled eider—need intact ecosystems for summer nesting to return to each year.
  • As sea ice declines polar bears are experiencing even more pressures, making protections for their denning areas even more critical.
  • The Western Arctic caribou herd is already struggling, and any development in the Utukok River Uplands or along the Colville River would add another threat to this far-ranging herd.
  • Oil development in the Reserve—like ConocoPhillips’ massive Willow project—are going to produce hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases each year, making the impacts of the climate crisis even worse for Alaska’s communities and beyond.

The Naval Petroleum Reserves Protection Act of 1976 (NPRPA), gives “maximum protection” to these areas of special ecological, cultural, subsistence, and recreational value. Learn more about what revoking Special Area protections means from the leaders of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic and Grandmothers Growing Goodness. 

Comment before August 4—even when the administration isn’t listening, speaking up still matters.