US to mull expanded oil drilling in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Trump administration will consider a new management plan and expanded oil drilling for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an area the size of Indiana that former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar characterized as an “iconic place on our Earth.”
The Bureau of Land Management announced last week it will take public comment through Jan. 21 on four alternatives for the reserve in northern Alaska.
Two alternatives could allow lease sales on lands previously designated as special conservation areas under the Obama administration.
The goal of a new management plan is increased energy production and greater energy security for the nation, BLM Alaska director Chad Padgett said.
“With advancements in technology and increased knowledge of the area, it was prudent to develop a new plan that provides greater economic development of our resources while still providing protections for important resources and subsistence access,” Padgett said.
The reserve is home to two caribou herds and provides ecologically significant wetlands used for breeding by migratory waterfowl from around the world. Its entire coastline is habitat for threatened polar bears.
In 2013, Salazar signed off on the current plan that split the reserve roughly in half between land for petroleum development and conservation areas.
The petroleum reserve was created in 1923 by President Warren Harding as the Naval Petroleum Reserve and set aside as an emergency oil supply for the Navy. The reserve covers 35,625 square miles. Congress in 1976 renamed the reserve and transferred administration to the Interior Department.
The reserve is south of the northernmost U.S. city, Utqiagvik, formerly Barrow.
Oil pipelines near the ColvilleDelta 5 (CD5) field drilling site on Alaska's North Slope are seen.
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