Across Alaska, millions of acres of federal public lands are protected by what are called D-1 withdrawals. The name sounds technical, but the issue is straightforward: these protections help keep public lands from being opened or transferred without fully considering subsistence, access, wildlife, waters, and the communities connected to them.
D-1 withdrawals come from Section 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA. When ANCSA passed in 1971, Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to review public lands in Alaska and determine whether certain lands should remain withdrawn to protect the public interest.
A withdrawal is a land-management safeguard. It can set lands aside for a public purpose, close lands to certain uses like sale, settlement, entry, mining, or leasing, or limit uses to protect important public values.
In Alaska, D-1 withdrawals have become deeply connected to subsistence and rural access. These lands include hunting areas, fishing places, berry grounds, traplines, firewood areas, travel routes, watersheds, wildlife habitat, and cultural places. They are not empty lands. They are places people know, use, depend on, and have responsibilities to.
Why D-1 protections are important
D-1 protections help keep lands in federal status. On federal public lands, rural residents may have federal subsistence priority under ANILCA. If D-1 withdrawals are revoked, some lands with State of Alaska “top filings” can become effective State selections. Once that happens, those lands may become unavailable for federal subsistence priority.
That is the part people need to understand clearly: a land-status change can affect whether rural residents continue to have federal subsistence protections on lands they rely on for food, heat, travel, and cultural practices.
D-1 protections also limit how quickly lands can be opened to mining, oil and gas development, or transfer. Without them, decisions can move forward before communities have answers about what happens to access, subsistence, habitat, cultural sites, and local ways of life.
What is happening now?
Some D-1 withdrawals were revoked in 2018 and 2019, but about 28 million acres remained protected. In January 2021, Interior issued five Public Land Orders that would have revoked the remaining withdrawals in five planning areas. Those orders were paused while BLM completed an environmental review, consultation, ANILCA 810 review, and public process.
In 2024, Interior issued Public Land Order 7947, rescinding the earlier revocation orders and keeping existing protections in place. That decision maintained protections from mining and mineral leasing on many D-1 lands and helped preserve federal subsistence priority.
Now the federal government is moving in the opposite direction again. BLM has informed Tribes that it is working to open the lands evaluated in the 2024 Environmental Impact Statement. Under that direction, all 28 million acres could be opened to location and entry under public land and mining laws and to selection by the State of Alaska under the Alaska Statehood Act.
BLM’s current process may not include structured public engagement, but Tribes can request government-to-government consultation. If BLM moves forward, new Public Land Orders would be published in the Federal Register and could take effect 30 days later.
If D-1 withdrawals are revoked, lands could be opened to mining, oil and gas development, and State selection. Federal subsistence priority could be lost on top-filed lands. And because of ANILCA’s “no more” clause, revoked D-1 withdrawals may not be easy to restore later.
What Tribes can do now
Tribes can request government-to-government consultation with BLM and the Department of the Interior as soon as possible.
A consultation request should be specific. Identify which D-1 lands matter to your Tribe or community. Explain how those lands are used. Name the concerns: subsistence, cultural practices, wildlife, water, food security, firewood, access, travel routes, burial sites, sacred places, camps, and future generations.
Tribes, Village Corporations, and community organizations can also:
- Submit or resend comments from the 2024 D-1 process.
- Pass resolutions supporting retention of D-1 withdrawals.
- Request written answers before any protections are reduced.
- Ask BLM how subsistence, cultural resources, and access will be protected.
- Request co-stewardship, administrative protections, or other long-term safeguards where appropriate.
- Ask for ongoing communication before any Public Land Orders are issued.
A consultation request can also make clear that BLM-managed public lands are ancestral lands and support important subsistence resources. Revoking withdrawals could restrict subsistence use and expose lands to mining, oil and gas development, and other activities that may affect fish, wildlife, migration, hunting, gathering, and cultural practices.
What Alaskans can do now
Alaskans can contact BLM Alaska, the Department of the Interior, Alaska’s congressional delegation, state leaders, and local representatives.
Ask them to:
- Keep D-1 protections in place.
- Pause any action to revoke withdrawals.
- Protect federal subsistence priority.
- Require meaningful Tribal consultation before decisions are made.
- Provide clear public information about what lands would be affected.
- Explain what happens to access, hunting, fishing, gathering, firewood, and travel routes.
- Stop moving land decisions forward without a real public process.
When you reach out, be specific. Talk about the lands you know. Talk about how people use them. Talk about moose, caribou, fish, berries, firewood, clean water, cabins, camps, trails, and cultural places. Personal and community-specific examples are harder to ignore than general comments.
The basic message is this: D-1 lands should not be opened to mining, oil and gas development, or State selection without meaningful consultation, clear public process, and strong protections for subsistence and rural ways of life.
Who to contact
To request consultation or raise concerns, contact BLM Alaska:
William Dunk, Anchorage District Manager
Email: wdunk@blm.gov
Phone: 907-822-3217, Glennallen Field Office, or 907-621-4640, Anchorage Field Office
Mail: Anchorage District Office, 4700 BLM Road, Anchorage, AK 99507
BLM Alaska State Office: https://www.blm.gov/office/alaska-state-office
You can also contact the Department of the Interior and Alaska’s federal delegation:
Department of the Interior
Submit comments through DOI’s online contact form or call the main office at 202-208-3100. You can also mail comments to: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240.
- DOI contact form: https://www.doi.gov/contact-us
- DOI online message form: https://www.doi.gov/eforms/contact-us
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Washington, DC: 202-224-6665
Anchorage: 907-271-3735
Fairbanks: 907-456-0233
Use her online contact form to send a written message.
- Senator Murkowski contact: https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/contact
- Senator Murkowski email form: https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/contact/email
Senator Dan Sullivan
Washington, DC: 202-224-3004
Anchorage: 907-271-5915
Fairbanks: 907-456-0261
Juneau: 907-586-7277
Use his online contact form to send a written message.
- Senator Sullivan contact: https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/contact
- Senator Sullivan email form: https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/contact/email
Representative Nick Begich
Washington, DC: 202-225-5765
Anchorage: 907-921-6575
Fairbanks: 907-251-4560
Use his online contact form to send a written message.
- Representative Begich contact: https://begich.house.gov/contact
- Representative Begich office locations: https://begich.house.gov/contact/office-locations