- - Welcome to the Landscape, your show about America's parks and public lands. I'm Erin Weiss with the Center for Western Priorities hanging out up the hill from Denver in beautiful Evergreen, Colorado this week. - And I'm Kate Retinger in downtown Salt Lake City. Today on the show, we're talking to the executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League about some big steps to protect public lands in Alaska, made by the Biden administration this spring.
But before we do that, let's do the news. - Uh, well, the big news since our last episode is that President Biden has ended new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, which is, of course, the largest coal producing region in the us. This is a very big deal. The president deserves a hardy round of applause here. Of course, this is key to the energy transition According to earth justice, this move will keep nearly 6 billion tons of coal in the ground.
Now, this, uh, decision is the result of a court case brought by conservation groups over to Trump Era, bureau of Land Management Resource Management plans in the Powder River Basin. That's located mo mainly in Wyoming, little bit into Montana. In 2022, a federal judge found in favor of the groups saying that those plans didn't address the public health consequences of coal mining.
The revised plans, which were just released last week, disallow future coal leasing, citing the negative environmental and health impacts of coal mining. It does not mean that coal mining ends immediately, uh, but in the Wyoming side, it projects coal mining would end around 2040, maybe continuing up through 2060 in Montana.
But of course, also at this rate, when you look at these new EPA coal regulations, uh, about pollution, all of that also then projects that all coal power, uh, in America could be done wound down by 2045. - We're joined today by Kristen Miller, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League. Kristen, thank you so much for being here. - Yeah, thank you for having me. - So let's start off with, um, sort of the biggest news, um, the, the protections for the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska.
What is the NPRA and what is inside of it? - Yeah, so the NPRA, uh, is the, unfortunately named National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska. We like to call it the Western Arctic. This is a piece of land located in the very remote, northwest corner of Alaska. It is our nation's largest piece of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Western Arctic is huge. It's this vast landscape of wilderness quality lands.
It's got wild rivers, mountains, globally recognized wetlands, tundra, all in an area the size of the entire state of Indiana. It is huge, but it exists almost completely in its natural state. It's, it's almost completely untouched by industrial development. And within these lands, there are significant geological cultural, ecological values.
It's home to plants and animals that you don't see anywhere else In the USA, for example, there's two caribou herds that call this place home with hundreds of thousands of caribou. There are millions of migratory birds that come to this region every year to nest and molten live and live. There's tens of thousands of molten geese. There's raptors. There's these huge concentrations of beluga whales and mar other marine mammals that people love, like the walrus and the polar bear.
It's really quite a biodiversity wonderland. And because of that, uh, it's home to more than 40 anupa communities that have lived there for thousands of years. And most of those communities still today harvest all or some of their food and subsistence resources from these lands. So it's pretty amazing. Um, but unfortunately it's also home to active oil and gas development. And so it's been under threat, not only from the continuation, but the expansion of that development.
- So on top of all of that, of course, you have climate change, and as we know, Alaska is feeling the brunt of that, more of that faster than just about anywhere else on the planet. - Yeah, yeah, that's true. Um, I think, I think everybody at this point understands and accepts that climate change is really significantly contributing to habitat loss and the biodiversity loss that we've seen globally.
But this is especially the case in Alaska and the Arctic and the Arctic specifically, it's warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. And then what's more for the area that we're talking about, the Western Arctic, uh, there are significant oil extraction activities. So these lands are feeling impacts from the on the ground activity, and that is coupled with the longer term impacts from the burning of oil and climate change.
So in this region, that's meant shorter winters, uh, permafrost, that's melting, changing vegetation. And all of this sort of in turn contributes to the displacement, the displacement of wildlife. It's this com combination of issues that has significant impacts, and it's happening so fast, it's hard to even adequately track it all with traditional science.
I've talked to people that live in the Arctic that tell stories about how in recent years, they've only seen a handful of caribou coming through their villages during harvesting season, when traditionally they've relied on hundreds, if not thousands of animals to migrate through there to feed their entire community or other communities. This has been their way of life for thousands of years, and they've been seeing these changes just in the last five, 10, and 20 years.
Another example that's probably more nationally known as just the polar bear. The polar bear has habitat in the Western Arctic. Uh, the polar bears are losing weight at the time of year when they're supposed to be gaining weight because there's so much unpredictability in sea ice, and the sea ice just isn't there for them to go out and hunt the seals that they rely on to feed them for the entire year. Similarly, all through Alaska, you're seeing devastating situations with salmon.
Salmon no longer in many areas can swim all the way upstream. It gets so warm, they're going back to their spawning areas. They're going back to their homes to give, to lay eggs, and they die in the trip home because the water is so hot. So there's, there's so many stories like this in Alaska that the effects of climate change in this region are so significant. - Kristen, I wanna ask you about the, the unfortunate name of the NPRA. Where did that come from and how was it designated?
- Yeah, so, uh, the, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, uh, it was originally established in 1923 as a petroleum reserve. So this was in between World War I and World War ii, and it existed that way for a really long time until 1976. And in 1976, it was actually, the management was actually transferred to the Department of Interior.
And so when that happened, uh, the law that transferred the land, it called for continuation of the oil and gas program that existed there to meet the energy needs of our nation. But at the same time, it called for the maximum protection of fish and wildlife habitat during any oil and gas development. So that's the history, despite having such a long history as a petroleum reserve, uh, actual oil and gas development within the bounds of the reserve didn't happen in 2004.
So that's just about 20 years of development. And over that same 20 years that this development has been just starting to advance into the Western Arctic, we've also been learning and confirming that the biodiversity and climate crisis necessitate that we have to find the end to massive oil and gas development throughout the country, but especially in Alaska where the impacts have been so severe.
- Um, can you say a little bit more about the impact of climate change on oil and gas development There? I I've read about the permafrost melting. Is it getting harder? Is it more dangerous to develop oil and gas in this area? - I think there's a lot of unpredictability with the melting permafrost. It certainly impacts the infrastructure. It also makes the damage caused by the development so severe.
And then you have situations like there was a gas leak outside of XI that caused a lot of fear, uh, among the, the people that live in Xi uh, uh, the year before last. And it's hard to understand the exact reasons stuff like that is happening. You know, a lot of it has to do with the instability of infrastructure. And like I said, it's really hard for the science and all of the technology to keep up with the amount that things are changing, uh, especially with the permafrost in Alaska.
- So that brings us to how the NPRA is managed today, and in particular with this NPRA rule, these designated special areas, um, which is one of these terms that sounds unbelievably broad, but actually has some, some very specific meaning when it comes to NPRA. Can you, can you explain what these areas are? How did they get designated and, and what happens now that you have this special designation? - Yeah, yeah. I always say to people, we didn't just decide to start calling them special areas.
Even though they are special areas, they're actually designated officially legally designated as special areas. So as part of that same law that transferred the management of the Western Arctic over to the Department of Interior, as I said, that law calls for maximum protection of the areas within the Western Arctic that have the most extraordinary ecological significance.
And so those, there was studies that were done, areas were identified, and then to better protect those ecological values and those specifically significant areas, it ended up being 13 million acres across the Western Arctic that were designated as five different special areas under DOIs management over the history of their management of this land. And that those areas are better protected for future generations.
Three of the special areas were actually designated when the law in the law that transferred the land over to de the Department of Interior. So that's Toch Puck Lake special area, which was protected because of its, uh, importance to micro prairie bird and waterfowl habitat.
The Utica River Upland special area was designated and recognized for providing critical habitat for the caribou, the Western arctic herd and the Coalville River special area was designated recognized for its important critical nesting habitat for Arctic peregrine falcons. So those were designated in the law, and then they were also expanded and, um, granted more protections in various land management plans over time.
And then two other special areas were actually created during land management planning processes. One was a Clic Lagoon special area, which was designated because of its important habitat for marine mammals under George W. Bush. And, uh, the PID Bay special area was designated because of its importance to marine mammals and staging and migration for water, uh, fowl and shore birds. And that was designated in a planning process under President Obama.
So that's just a little example of the bipartisan priority of protecting the most special areas of the Western artery. - And and how many acres are we talking about in total then? For special areas inside the NPRA - 13 million acres are protected as special areas. Um, but there are actually some of those areas that do have active oil and gas leases on them. - So Kristen, you mentioned a few communities earlier.
Um, can you tell us a little bit about what the human like footprint is in, in the NPRA or outside of the NPRA and and how people use the resources within it, like caribou and whatnot? - There are 40 communities.
There are probably more than 40 communities in the region in the Western Arctic and outside of, uh, the actual National Petroleum Reserve, and then communities that are within the National Petroleum Reserve, and these are Anup indigenous villages that have basically lived in this region, region since time immemorial. They rely on the Western Arctic and the central arctic caribou herd.
Uh, they rely on these animals for their subsistence food, and they use every part of the animal for their culture and their way of life. They subsist on wailing and many ducks, many of the animals that go into the region.
And so this biodiversity, this, these resources of the Western Arctic that support this significant confluence of so many different animals, this is the, these are the same resources that have been the subsistence livelihood and the subsistence way of life of these communities for thousands of years. - So that brings us then to what the Biden administration just did, we increasing protections for those 13 million acres of special areas.
Uh, increasing protection is again, a pretty broad term that can mean a lot of things. So how, how significant is this change that we just saw in the NPRA rule? - Yeah, so big picture in the same sort of time period that we're talking about in these recent decades that we have all come to understand how global climate change and biodiversity loss are dramatically affecting all of us in the Arctic during the same time period.
The regulations that govern the management of the Western Arctic, this particular piece of land hadn't, hadn't changed at all. And so it's been important to us at Alaska Wilderness League to see a modernization of the way the Western Arctic is managed in light of the current climate crisis. And that is what the Biden administration set out at taking a step towards doing with this regulation.
So a little bit more specifically, uh, what the regulation does is it reaffirms that there is a presumption against any new leasing and infrastructure within those 13 million acres of special areas. And then even a little bit more specifically, it prohibits any new leasing on the 10 plus million of acres within those special areas that don't already have leases. So that's, that's really important. Um, it also reinforces and starts to better define exactly what they mean by maximum protection.
It hadn't really been well defined for a, a number of, for all of these decades. And so we're getting a better sense of what it means and what kind of things that we can do to safeguard the significant resource values of these special areas. It clarifies the durability of the special areas.
So that means that once a special area is created, it is clear that that special area is gonna remain unless, uh, they're, they can prove that the unique values and characteristics that the area was originally set aside to protect basically no longer exists. So that's a pretty strong standard to make sure that those special areas are there for a long time. And then it is establishes a regular process to determine whether they need to expand the existing special areas or create new special areas.
- And and that's every five years? - It's every 10 years now. - 10 years. Every 10 years now. Okay. Um, and so, uh, I would presume then with the speed at which climate change is affecting the Arctic, we could see then more special areas in 2034. Is that fair? Or something you would hope to see?
- Oh, actually even more so, uh, what, what we were also very excited about is when this rule was finalized, when the Biden administration made the announcement, they also announced that they are gonna start a process. - Oh, right now 20. Okay, so 20, 24, 25, yep.
Sign significant. Great. - Yeah. Yeah. So we're expecting in the next couple weeks a request for information in which there will be a public comment period, and we can all weigh in on whether we want to see more values protected, special areas that exist expanded or, or new special areas. So that's, that's gonna be a big focus going forward. - Kristen, this feels like a good time to ask. Um, how was wilderness, sorry.
How was the Alaska Wilderness League involved in advocating for these changes and, um, how will you guys engage in the process of designating new special areas? - Yeah, this has been a huge priority for the Alaska wilderness. We league, uh, we've, we've been actually working for the protection of the Western Arctic for decades. So this is a issue that we've cared about for a really long time.
And then in light of the climate crisis and all the work that we're doing today, this idea of updating the management of the Western Arctic in light of the climate crisis has been a priority ever since President Biden came into office. So we were very excited and involved in, in this effort, you know, some of the things we do, we educate our members, we educate the public about the issue.
We work really hard to make sure the story of the landscape and the story of the people is really elevated in the media and all around the country. And we engage deeply in the effort to bring people's comments to decision makers and to ourselves, uh, engage in the comment making progress pro process with decision makers. So yeah, it was really important and we were really involved.
- Alright, let's move from NPRA to the other big Alaska announcement, uh, in April, which was canceling the proposed Ambler Mining Road. We've talked about it before on this podcast, but I think it was several years back. So just refresh us, what was that proposal and what would it have meant if this road had gotten built? - Yeah. So the proposed Ambler Road would've been a 200 plus mile industrial corridor on the south side of the brook of the Brooks Range.
So this is basically south of the western arctic that we're talking about, close to the gates of the Arctic National Preserve. The proposed road, if you looked at the proposal, it would've risked more than 1400 acres of wetlands. It would've crossed 300, or sorry, 3000 streams. It would've cut through the gates of the Arctic preserve, it would've cut through salmon spawning habitat. It would've cut through the migration route of the western arctic caribou herd.
So it had a lot of really significant on the ground threats of impact. And then beyond that, the, what the road was actually being proposed for was a massive industrial complex that would've supported a copper mine into the future, a huge open pick, copper mine. And that would've really threatened all the local fisheries and many, many subsistence resources for local communities. So what happened recently is the final environmental impact statement was released by the Biden administration.
And right now they have preferred, they have shown the preferred alternative to be no road. And so we need to make sure that they hear that we really support that decision over the next, not 30, now, maybe 20 days. not exactly. - So, so not final final, but heading towards a final No. - Yes. - Um, Kristin, from what I understand, that road would've also cut through part of gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Um, why is that a problem?
- Yeah, so, uh, it would've cut through 20 miles of globally significant national park and preserve. One of the reasons the gates of the Arctic Park exist is to protect these full scale habitats for essential fish and wildlife populations. So you're talking about caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, and these are species that require a lot of room to thrive and a lot of room to maintain their habitat. Uh, the gates, this is part of the reason why it was so exciting to us.
Uh, much of the reason why it was so exciting to us that the Biden administration did these two decisions together. It's 'cause it really tells the story of what you have the opportunity to protect. In Alaska, the gates of the Arctic and the Western Arctic have the same caribou herd that migrate through. And these animals don't know the bounds. They don't know where the gates of the Arctic ends and the western Arctic begins. This is just where they migrate.
And so these are entire landscapes that support ecology and it support entire ecosystems. And we have the opportunity in Alaska to still protect at that level. And the Biden administration looking at these two deci decisions together and understanding the values and how they interrelate and the interconnectedness of all of these areas was so important. And that is what is gonna be able to help us keep this Arctic region long into the future. And we have the opportunity to do that in Alaska,
unlike anywhere else in the United States. Right. - I I think it's probably important to point out folks here, national Park and they may think like Yellowstone or Glacier or Rocky Mountain where you have roads, you know, big heavily trafficked roads running through the national park that are part of the draw of the park as effectively a tourist attraction. And that is decidedly not gates of the Arctic.
- Yeah, there is one road once you get to Fairbanks and a little bit north, there's then one road that you can take that takes you straight up to the top of Alaska. And that's, you know, almost the half the land mass of central Alaska and North has no roads, has no roads, interconnected road system. So yeah, in order to get the gates of the Arctic, you can drive up that one road, but then you have to hike in for those 20 plus miles in order to - You hit the park gate and that's it.
Yeah. - Kristen, I'm curious, hearing you talk about these two decisions, um, it seems like a, a pretty big deal for Alaska overall. Would you say this is some of one of the biggest steps forward in conservation in Alaska since like Jimmy Carter? Or like, can you put this in historical perspective for us? How big of a deal are these two decisions coming down at the same time? - I think it's a huge deal for conservation and it's a huge deal for the day and age in which we are in.
I think the, the Western Arctic was originally set aside a hundred years ago for oil and gas development. And we really focus in now on the part of the law that says we need to develop it for the energy needs of our nation. The energy needs of our nation have now have to include the climate crisis. And we really have to look at what we're doing from an energy perspective. And that has to include stopping the development of oil and gas.
And that is just a different place than we were when this was originally set aside. And now we are seeing the Biden administration recognize that and recognize it through the, the actual formal management. And similar with the LER road, we are just recognizing that we need to take the, we have lost so much in the lower 48 and it was incremental development over hundreds of years. And, and that hasn't happened in many parts of Alaska.
And we need to learn from the mistakes of the past and these are decisions that are gonna make sure that we have these incredible, incredible resources for generations to come. - So what's next for Alaska Wilderness Lead have these two big victories? On the other hand, we haven't talked about the Willow decision, which obviously, uh, US and many other groups were very critical of approving that project. So what's next for your group? How do you move forward and what are your priorities?
- Yeah, I think we just talked about the special area process that's gonna be really important to us. And we really wanna see and make sure that there are no more willows ever approved in this area, ever approved in the Arctic. That is incredibly important. That's what the opportunity we have with this special area process.
So we're gonna be doing a lot of work looking at the science, talking to the people on the ground and understanding what values aren't yet protected and what areas aren't yet protected and what extra protections are needed because of the threat of oil and gas development. And we need to turn around this trajectory of allowing more oil and make sure we don't see any more willows. So that's gonna be really important to us going forward.
On the other side of the Arctic is also the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is an area that many people from across the country have fought to protect for decades. There is a mandated lease sale that has to happen in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but as we, as we sit here today, there is no, there are no leases held in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the coastal plane. There is o no oil and gas development in the coastal plane.
And I think we can keep it that way if we keep fighting. And so we wanna get to the end of the year of that mandated lease sale with no leases held on the coastal plan of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge so that we also have the opportunity to protect that amazing landscape for generations. - Kristen, quick clarifying question there. So the, the BLMI am assuming they will hold that auction, and is the goal to just ensure that no companies bid?
Or are you trying to have the BLM shrink the, the parcels available in that auction? - Uh, there's lots of options. There's lots of options. Right now what's happening is there's, the environmental impact statement is being done, and so that needs to be written away. That makes sure that the protection of the resource is the priority in that plan.
I think once you have an environmental impact statement that is as protective as possible and you get to a lease sale, it's gonna be really unattractive to bid. You know, this is a place that not, not one American wants to see developed. When there, when we held the last lease sale, no major oil companies showed up.
And so that's the scenario that we really wanna see again, in part because it's gonna be really unattractive to develop there because there's so much opposition, because there's so many, um, uh, re parts of the regulation that are aiming to protect it. And so, and then the administration will hold a lease sale, but I think it's gonna be a lease sale that nobody wants to engage in. - Got it. Got it. Making it kind of toxic to even touch. - Yeah. - Great.
Well, Kristen, thank you so much for your time today. Um, again, we have Kristen Miller, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League here, and we just really enjoyed this conversation. - Yeah, thanks guys. It was so great to talk to you. - Here's some good news. Interior Secretary Deb Holland visited the proposed Chuck Wall National Monument in southern California.
Over the weekend, the proposed monument includes 600,000 acres of desert adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park, a visit from Holland Signals, the administration is taking the monument proposal seriously and they could hold a community forum about the monument soon. We'll stay tuned for that and keep you all updated. - Well, that is all for today, folks. Remember, you can reach us by email podcast@westernpriorities.org.
Also track us down on Threads or TikTok, where Sterling continues to do a spectacular job telling complicated stories in less than 90 seconds. We always love to hear from you. Uh, of course, if you have thoughts about any of this or public lands in general, send them our way. - Thanks to Kristen for her time today and her tireless advocacy for Alaska Public Lands. And as always, thank you for listening to the landscape.