FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 19, 2025

Press Contact: Grace Nolan, grace@team-arc.com

Grandmothers Growing Goodness, Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic Oppose Trump Administration’s Proposal to Sell Off 82% of the Western Arctic for Oil and Gas Drilling

(Nuiqsut, Alaska) — On Tuesday night, the Trump Administration’s Department of the Interior (DOI) released a proposal that would sell off 82% of the Western Arctic to the oil and gas industry. DOI will have only a two-week comment period for the public to weigh in on a proposal that could open almost 19 million acres of public lands to drilling.

Since time immemorial, Alaska Native communities have lived in deep relationship with the Western Arctic, stewarding its lands and relying on its rich resources for food, culture, and survival. The Trump administration’s proposal would devastate critical habitat for caribou, endangered whales, polar bears, and migratory birds, and threaten the health, safety, and sovereignty of Indigenous communities who depend on this land.

Below are statements in response:

“The Trump Administration’s proposal to sell off nearly all of the Western Arctic while only providing a two-week comment period for the public to respond silences our voices and treats our lives like bargaining chips for the oil and gas industry. Our leaders must stop treating the Arctic as a political pawn and start treating this region and all those who sustain and rely on it with respect. These plans for the Arctic are unpopular, unnecessary, and a waste of time and resources, and we demand that the Trump Administration leave our home alone. There are many more things this Administration could be focused on instead of attempting to sell off the Arctic over and over again through dangerous proposals,” said Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, Executive Director of Grandmothers Growing Goodness.

“There is a coordinated effort to sell off the Arctic to polluting industries. From Congress’s attempts to mandate leasing in the Arctic and rescind critical protections for the Western Arctic, to the Trump Administration announcing just yesterday they want to sell off over 80% of the Western Arctic for drilling, these attacks put our lives on the line. Despite the Trump Administration’s plan to silence our voices by releasing only a two-week comment period on its reckless proposal, we will be making it loud and clear that this region is too special and too fragile for drilling,” said Nauri Simmonds, Executive Director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic.

The Trump Administration’s proposal would:

Guts existing protections: Revokes the current balanced plan that safeguards critical wildlife habitat and subsistence resources in Western Arctic “Special Areas,” replacing it with one that prioritizes oil and gas development above all else.
Expands drilling across the Reserve: Opens an additional 7 million acres in the Western Arctic to leasing, bringing the total to 18.7 million acres, or 82% of the entire 22-million-acre Reserve.
Targets Special Areas:

Fully opens Teshekpuk Lake Special Area—one of the most ecologically sensitive regions in the Arctic—to oil and gas activity, with only limited restrictions.
Eliminates the Colville River Special Area entirely.
Opens portions of the Utukok Uplands, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay Special Areas—all designated for their cultural and ecological importance—to industrial development.

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About Grandmothers Growing Goodness:

Grandmothers Growing Goodness is dedicated to protecting the environment and promoting the well-being of Indigenous communities in the Arctic.

About Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic’s mission is to create space for healthy communities, spiritually, mentally, and physically; fostering the connection between people, culture, and land. We are empowered as frontline communities and those who have an inherent connection with the land and what it provides.