More than 50 members of Congress joined a letter asking the BLM to consider expanding the "Special Areas" within the NPR-A

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Lawmakers, Tribes want new protections for National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
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Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Caribou grazing on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

Lawmakers, Alaska Native Tribes, and conservation organizations are asking the Biden administration to add new protections for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska ([link removed]) (NPR-A). In response to a request for public comment the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued in July, more than 50 members of Congress joined a letter asking the BLM to consider expanding the "Special Areas" within the NPR-A which are managed for the protection of wildlife and Alaska Native subsistence resources from oil development. "The myriad of unique ecosystems, sensitive habitats, and iconic species within the Western Arctic must be prioritized and protected from the impacts of oil and gas development," the lawmakers wrote ([link removed]) in the letter.

Meanwhile, three Alaska Native organizations submitted a separate letter asking for the designation of a new Special Area ([link removed]) in the NPR-A. The letter requests that the area, if designated, be co-managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Alaska Native Tribes.

The July 2024 request for public comment followed the April 2024 release ([link removed]) of the BLM's final NPR-A Rule, which updated regulations for the management and protection of the NPR-A. The final NPR-A Rule has overwhelming support: A sentiment analysis ([link removed]) conducted by the Center for Western Priorities found that 88 percent of the public comments on the rule encouraged the Interior Department to adopt the rule as written, or to limit oil and gas drilling even further.


** Quick hits
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Odd bedfellows join in local-control fight over state lands in Wyoming

WyoFile ([link removed])

Arizona Tribe fights to stop lithium drilling on culturally significant lands

Associated Press ([link removed])

Colorado parents, school officials relieved oil storage facility expansion near school nixed

CBS News Colorado ([link removed])

In arid New Mexico, a debate over reusing oil industry wastewater

Undark ([link removed])

Oregon’s largest natural gas company said it was going green. It sells as much fossil fuel as before

ProPublica ([link removed])

Oil industry facing rising number of climate lawsuits

The Guardian ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed])

With Wyoming’s regional haze plan ‘partially rejected,’ conservationists await agency’s fnal proposal

Inside Climate News ([link removed])

'California Forever' billionaire city effort moves underground

High Country News ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” As we look to our future, we look to our past, to our ancestors, and this is the biggest threat that is harming us right now.”

—Duane Clark, Hualapai Tribal Chairman, Associated Press ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@nationalparkservice ([link removed])
It never hurts to “paws” and reflect on the day and what you hope tomorrow brings. Or where you put that half-eaten salmon you were saving for dinner.

What’s this bear thinking? Maybe it’s just enjoying the view? We don’t know, we’re not bearapists. What we do know is brown bears actually lead fairly solitary lives and can entertain themselves. As an extroverted introvert, they don’t mind socializing when there is abundant food or just spending some time on self-reflection.

Image: A lone Brown bear sits on the water’s edge of Lake Clark National Park & Preserve’s Silver Salmon Creek contemplating the meaning of it all.

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