28 million acres of public land across Alaska, including several critical salmon strongholds, have now been protected from mining and oil and gas development.
The Secretary of the Interior today announced full protections for tens of million acres of public lands across Alaska, safeguarding them from extractive industrial development.
You spoke up and Washington listened!
These rich landscapes, including millions of acres around the Bristol Bay, Yukon and Kuskokwim regions support all five species of Pacific salmon, three of North America’s largest caribou herds, abundant moose populations, and vast numbers of migratory birds.
Protecting these places from industrial development will help buffer vulnerable fish and wildlife populations from the effects of climate change and provide future food security for Alaska Native Tribes in over 100 communities. On behalf of Alaskan communities, fish, and wildlife: Thank you!
Keeping Critical Landscapes Intact
Since January 2021, we’ve been working with our partners to stop five Public Land Orders prepared by the Secretary of the Interior under the Trump Administration. The orders would have opened up some 28 million acres of public lands and waters to extractive industrial development. (See these 5 maps that help tell the story.)
The salmon- and wildlife-rich federal lands named in the orders are located in the Bristol Bay, Bering Sea Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk Seward, and the Ring of Fire regions.
Known as “D-1” lands, these acres have been considered off-limits to mineral, oil, and gas extraction since the passage of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
Alaska’s BLM-managed D-1 lands (50.1 million acres in total) cover roughly 13 percent of the state. These large swaths of unfragmented habitat represent some of the nation’s largest remaining intact ecosystems, from high alpine tundra to the pristine estuaries and wetlands in places like Bristol Bay, home to the world’s most abundant wild sockeye runs.
These landscapes support migratory birds and roving herds of caribou, while their undisturbed watersheds deliver the cold, clean water that wild fish need to weather accelerating climate impacts. For Alaska Native communities that rely on subsistence fishing and hunting, D-1 lands are critical to supporting food security and maintaining a way of life that has endured for millennia.
These protections are arguably more important than ever, given the pressures of climate change on Alaska’s natural systems, fish and wildlife populations, and human communities.
When Congress enacted ANCSA five decades ago, it expressly withdrew unreserved lands in Alaska to allow the Secretary of the Interior time to determine whether opening these lands to resource extraction served the public interest.
The Bureau of Land Management’s environmental review process, launched in 2023, brought a chance for communities, hunters, anglers, and conservation groups to make the case that strong D-1 land protections—not resource extraction—best serve the public interest.
Public Support
And make the case, you did. Over 100,000 Americans spoke out in favor of keeping full-fledged protections. That included over half of Alaska Native Tribes and hundreds of businesses.
People across Alaska and the country understood the value of these large landscapes. You understood how this land use decision could impact fish and wildlife habitat, and cultural and subsistence resources for thousands of people.
You understood this campaign was a historic opportunity. Now, we can rest easier, knowing that the future of some of our last, best undisturbed public lands is more secure.
