The Bureau of Land Management said two companies bought leases covering more than 72,000 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain, while environmental groups criticized the sale as too small to justify drilling in the region.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Bureau of Land Management sold five oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, generating $3.74 million from tracts in the refuge’s Coastal Plain.
The agency said two companies submitted bids on five tracts totaling 72,049 acres. The sale covered only part of the acreage made available, with the Bureau of Land Management offering 58 tracts across approximately 688,829 acres.
“This lease sale is another important step toward restoring American Energy Dominance and responsibly developing the vast resources Congress directed us to make available in the Coastal Plain,” Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce said in a statement.
The auction was the second lease sale in the Coastal Plain under President Donald Trump and the first since Congress passed the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. The Trump administration has made expanded access to domestic energy resources a priority, including development opportunities in Alaska.
The Bureau of Land Management said the previous administration discouraged oil and gas development in the region and canceled leases that had been issued during the 2021 sale. Since January 2025, the agency said it has worked to reverse those actions.
Kevin Pendergast, the Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska state director, said the sale reflected continued interest in the region’s energy potential.
“Today’s lease sale underscores the vision that both industry and government share about the viability of development in the Coastal Plain,” Pendergast said.
Federal law requires Alaska to receive approximately half of the bid receipts from the sale. Based on Friday’s results, the state is expected to receive nearly $2 million.
The Coastal Plain has been the subject of decades of debate between energy development supporters and environmental groups. Congress recognized the area’s resource potential through the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 and later authorized oil and gas leasing there through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Supporters of leasing have argued that the region contains major energy resources and that development can occur responsibly under federal oversight. Opponents have said drilling could threaten wildlife habitat and disrupt lands considered important by local communities.
The Sierra Club criticized Friday’s sale as an “embarrassment,” saying the $3.7 million in proceeds fell far short of claims that expanded leasing would help pay for major tax cuts.
The organization pointed to the refuge’s importance as habitat for wildlife, including the Porcupine Caribou Herd. It also said the region is central to the culture and subsistence traditions of the Gwich’in people, who the Sierra Club said have long opposed oil and gas development in the area.
“Let’s call that what it is, another scam to trick Americans into giving away our precious natural world,” said Athan Manuel, the Sierra Club’s director of Lands Protection. “It does nothing to change the reality that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remains a risky, controversial, and fundamentally flawed proposition.”
The Sierra Club said it plans to continue opposing efforts to expand drilling in the refuge and will work with local communities and environmental advocates against development in the region.
The Bureau of Land Management manages approximately 245 million acres of public land nationwide, including major holdings in Alaska. Friday’s sale marks another step in the federal government’s effort to make portions of the Coastal Plain available for oil and gas development, even as legal, political and environmental disputes over the Arctic refuge continue.
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