A group of Native Americans is happy that government leaders opposed a rule imposed by former President Joe Biden (D) regarding the development of a wildlife refuge in Alaska.
The problem concerns the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Fox News reported Saturday.
This is the area where Biden worked to stifle an oil and gas lease sale before leaving the White House and where President Donald Trump took over after his victory in November 2024, according to Breitbart News.
Fox reported:
Using the Congressional Review Act, the Senate voted Thursday evening to pass a resolution from Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, that formally reversed a Biden-era rule limiting more than 1 million acres to development in the refuge, where indigenous communities like Kaktovik reside.
Democrats are concerned about the potential harm to Alaska communities if access to ANWR is expanded for more energy development, according to the Fox article.
However, a group representing people living in and around the shelter said in a press release Thursday that it welcomed the resolutions:
Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat (VOICE) and its members are pleased to see the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives pass joint resolutions condemning the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2024 Record of Decision (ROD) for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) using the Congressional Review Act.
The 2024 ANWR ROD was drafted without proper legal consultation with Alaska Native tribes and corporations representing the North Slope Iñupiat. The North Slope Iñupiat have managed the region for more than 10,000 years, and a strong majority of elected Iñupiaq leaders opposed the BLM’s decision to finalize this deeply flawed policy. In 2017, the VOICE Board of Directors — which represents the majority of elected officials in the region, including those in Kaktovik, the only community located within ANWR — unanimously passed a resolution supporting responsible exploration and development in the ANWR Coastal Plain.
“These joint congressional resolutions are a positive sign that congressional decision-makers support our self-determination in Iñupiaq,” said Nagruk Harcharek, president and CEO of VOICE. “After enduring years of unbalanced relationships with Congress and the federal government, our communities are cautiously optimistic for the people of Kaktovik following this vote – supported by our local and regional leaders – on our Indigenous lands.
In October, Trump moved to reverse a Biden-era decision regarding Ambler Road, which would provide access to the Ambler mining district in northern Alaska, according to Breitbart News.
“This is something that should have worked a long time ago and brought billions of dollars to our country and provided a lot of energy and minerals and everything that we’re talking about,” the president said. “And they undid it and wasted a lot of time and a lot of money, a lot of effort, and now we’re doing it again.”
In 2021, Breitbart News reported that Congress shelved ANWR in 1980.
“The fossil fuel industry has lobbied for the opening of ANWR, arguing that new technologies such as directional drilling and ice roads minimize environmental impact and risks to wildlife,” the article states. “Local Alaska Native Iñupiat communities and the state government also support oil and gas activity in the ANWR. But environmental groups oppose it, pointing out that the migratory Porcupine caribou herd uses the coastal plain for calving.”
