• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home Science & Environment Wildlife & Conservation

Trump Orders Resource Development on Alaska Public Lands ‘to the Fullest Extent Possible,’ But May Also Restore Hunting Opportunities

February 6, 2025
in Wildlife & Conservation
Reading Time: 6 mins read
A A
0
The Haul Road, which was built to service the Trans-Atlantic Pipeline and later opened to the public. Photo by by Bob Wick / BLM
12
SHARES
25
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Among the spate of executive orders issued by the Trump Administration in the last two weeks was a key directive about Alaska‘s public lands and natural resources. The Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential executive order is resurrecting controversial development projects like the Ambler Road and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That same mandate could also reopen the door to millions of acres of federal land that became off limits to hunters during the Biden Administration.

Issued on Jan. 20, the order emphasizes development of the state’s natural gas, minerals, timber, seafood and other “resources to the fullest extent possible.” The White House is clear in its intent to “efficiently and effectively maximize the development and production” on both federal and state lands in Alaska.

A less publicized provision instructs the Department of Interior to realign hunting opportunities on federal lands with those available on state lands. In recent years the federal government has chipped away at opportunities on federal land for caribou, moose, sheep, and bear hunters. The most notable was when, over objections from the Alaska Department of Game and Fish, 60 million acres of federal lands were closed to nonresident and most nonresident caribou hunters in 2022.

Meanwhile, public hunting opportunities on state lands in Alaska have remained available. This executive order paves the way for returning many wildlife management decisions to the state.

“Ultimately, no one knows exactly what this mandate will look like over the next few years,” says Alaska outdoorsman and Outdoor Life staff writer Tyler Freel, who has reported extensively on both extraction and hunting access issues in his state. “Anti-development folks will view it as an environmental doomsday, and resource-hungry industrialists hope it will be a free-for-all. It’s likely, and should be our hope, that the state can continue to increase resource development in a responsible manner. It’s unlikely all these projects will proceed. Ultimately we should pay attention, support what’s reasonable, and oppose what isn’t.”

What Maximum Development Looks Like

It’s no surprise to see such strong language in the order, given Trump’s “drill baby, drill” refrain. But it’s still causing alarm in the conservation community, which has generally opposed increased resource development over concerns for wildlife, habitat, and wilderness.

Among other changes, the mandate has reversed the BLM’s 2024 denial of the Ambler Road permit and overturned the Alaska Roadless Rule, which will impact 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest. As we reported in 2020, the Trump administration removed the Roadless Rule, and the Biden administration reinstated it in 2023.

The Haul Road, which was built to service the Trans-Atlantic Pipeline and later opened to the public. Photo by by Bob Wick / BLM

The mandate also targets oil and gas leasing in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and again revokes the conservation status of 28 million acres of public land that had been withdrawn from mineral and energy development since 1971. In January 2021 the first Trump administration began withdrawing those protections, which had previously endured no matter which political party controlled the White House.

“President Trump’s actions suggest ‘energy dominance’ means letting fossil fuels totally rule over our public lands and overshadow all other uses. That isn’t what most people want,” said senior director for government relations of the Wilderness Society Lydia Weiss in a statement. “America’s public lands are part of what makes us great as a nation. They are a key part of our shared heritage and can unite us when so much is threatening to tear us apart. Today’s actions are a dire threat to this common ground. We depend on public lands as places to hunt, hike and play; havens for hallowed ancestral and cultural sites; and refuge for threatened wildlife.”

The executive order doesn’t completely clear the way for instant development. Controversial developments like proposed mines in Alaska’s Bristol Bay and near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota have routinely been shut down, green lit, and shut down again as presidential administrations turn over. Lawsuits have proven a key weapon in the battles for these types of public lands, and we can expect to see those continue.

More Hunting Opportunity on Federal Land

While the full-speed ahead philosophy on resource extraction doesn’t signal a willingness to compromise, another section of President Trump’s mandate actually focuses on resolving a growing gulf between Alaska’s state and federal land managers.

Among other guidance, the White House instructs “all bureaus of the Department of the Interior to ensure to the greatest extent possible that hunting and fishing opportunities on Federal lands are consistent with similar opportunities on State lands.” It also requires the DOI to “conduct meaningful consultation with the State fish and wildlife management agencies prior to enacting land management plans or other regulations that affect the ability of Alaskans to hunt and fish on public lands.”

The biggest loss of hunting access in Alaska, as we mentioned, was when the Federal Subsistence Board closed 60-million acres of public land to everyone but qualified local subsistence caribou hunters in 2022. That closure followed a smaller but still notable loss of access when nearly 1.5 million acres of BLM land in unit 13 were closed in 2020 to everyone but, again, qualified local subsistence hunters.

While the proposed closures cited concerns about caribou herd health, Freel has maintained that herds fluctuate over time and the real issue was rooted in human conflict.

Caribou cross a winter trail near the town of Ambler. Photo by Lisa Hupp / USFWS
Caribou cross a winter trail near the town of Ambler. Photo by Lisa Hupp / USFWS

Another blow to Alaska sportsmen came in July 2023. Just as Alaska hunters were preparing for their 2023 sheep season, all federal lands in the central Brooks Range were closed to Dall sheep hunting. Notably, that included the archery-only Dalton Highway Corridor Management Area. These two-year closures were extended in 2024, and expanded further when the National Park Service successfully lobbied the Federal Subsistence Board to close federal lands to sheep hunters in the Yukon Charlie National Preserve.

Then, in December, the National Park Service issued its final rule restricting bear baiting on Alaska lands managed by the NPS. State officials have been trying to regain control over wildlife management on places like the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (This dispute between the State of Alaska and the USFWS stems from an Obama administration policy that banned several common and traditional hunting practices — namely the ban on hunting brown or grizzly bears with the aid of bait on more than 6 million acres of federal refuge and preserve lands.)

“Many Alaskans have a skeptical or downright sour view of federal agencies and Interior Department-appointed land managers,” Freel wrote in 2023. “The struggle goes back decades, and agencies like the National Park Service have an earned reputation for pressing anti-hunting, especially anti-predator hunting, restrictions and agendas. The NPS proposal [then on the table] cites ‘public safety’ concerns, but ignores countless examples of successful and well-managed bear baiting areas that have healthy populations of bears and minimal negative human contact.”

The language in Trump’s executive order echoes the lawsuit filed by the state, urging federal agencies to comply with ANILCA. That legislation, passed in 1980, acknowledges the unique management challenges of Alaska’s vast tracts of public lands and requires federal agencies to cooperate with state managers. ANILCA also has a statutory requirement to prioritize subsistence management.

This article by Natalie Krebs was first published by Outdoor Life on 30 January 2025. Lead Image: A caribou feeds near an oilfield pipeline in Alaska. Photo by Jason J Lucas / Adobe Stock.

Help to save wildlife

If you can, please make a donation on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you’re making a big impact every single month in support of  wildlife conservation. Thank you.


payment

Focusing on Wildlife supports approved wildlife conservation organizations, which spend at least 80 percent of the money they raise on actual fieldwork, rather than administration and fundraising.

(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.8&appId=117160911789807”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));

Tags: AlaskadevelopmentextentFullesthuntingLandsopportunitiesorderspublicresourceRestoreTrump
Previous Post

Inside WA firefighters’ battle for homes in an L.A. canyon

Next Post

Urban Sky raises $30 million for stratospheric balloons

Related Posts

Endangered Species Day Comes as Wildlife Face a New Crisis

May 23, 2025
25

Thai man arrested for smuggling baby orang utans

May 22, 2025
6
Next Post

Urban Sky raises $30 million for stratospheric balloons

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0
Table lists environmental actions taken by the Trump administration. 47 have been completed or are in progress, with another 20 not started.

To understand Trump’s environmental policy, read Project 2025

May 23, 2025
Government delays publication of child poverty strategy

Government delays publication of child poverty strategy

May 23, 2025
Ukraine and Russia each free first 390 prisoners in start of war’s biggest swap

Ukraine and Russia each free first 390 prisoners in start of war’s biggest swap

May 23, 2025
Ukraine uses US long-range missiles for first time, says Russia

Twelve injured in knife attack at Hamburg railway station

May 23, 2025

Recent News

Table lists environmental actions taken by the Trump administration. 47 have been completed or are in progress, with another 20 not started.

To understand Trump’s environmental policy, read Project 2025

May 23, 2025
0
Government delays publication of child poverty strategy

Government delays publication of child poverty strategy

May 23, 2025
4
Ukraine and Russia each free first 390 prisoners in start of war’s biggest swap

Ukraine and Russia each free first 390 prisoners in start of war’s biggest swap

May 23, 2025
4
Ukraine uses US long-range missiles for first time, says Russia

Twelve injured in knife attack at Hamburg railway station

May 23, 2025
5

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

Table lists environmental actions taken by the Trump administration. 47 have been completed or are in progress, with another 20 not started.

To understand Trump’s environmental policy, read Project 2025

May 23, 2025
Government delays publication of child poverty strategy

Government delays publication of child poverty strategy

May 23, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co