VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 3 | SUMMER 2025
AFTER OVER A CENTURY, VISION FOR NPR-A CLEAR
NPR-A comes into its own as an energy reserve for the nation BY TIM BRADNER FOR ALASKANS INTERESTED IN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, LITTLE HAS BEEN SO IRKSOME AS FORMER INTERIOR SECRETARY DEB HAA- LAND’S ACTION TO SHARPLY EXPAND PROTECT- ED AREAS IN THE NATIONAL PETROLEUM RE- SERVE-ALASKA, OR NPR-A. This included a provision for “pop-up” protected areas where the U.S. Bureau of Land Management could expand protected areas and create new ones every five years. That’s all gone now, or soon will be. President Trump’s “Big Beautiful” budget reconciliation bill, now in law with the pres- ident’s signature, restores the land manage- ment rules in place in 2020, before Presi- dent Joe Biden took office and Haaland was appointed. As in ANWR, the President’s bill also increased the royalty share to the state of Alaska from 50% to 70% but that happens in 2034. The NPR-A is a large 23-million-acre federal enclave on the western North Slope set aside in 1923 for its oil potential by Pres- ident Warren Harding. While no oil depos- its were known at the time federal geolo- gists surveying the area thought there was potential and recommended that Harding establish it as an oil reserve for the U.S. Navy. This was just after World War I when it had became apparent to the world’s navies that oil would become a major source of fuel for warships. However, in recent years, conservation groups have pushed for the NPR-A to be managed more like a wildlife reserve, and in these ideas were receptive for Interior Secretaries under Democratic presidents including Haaland, under President Joe Biden, and Sally Jewell, under President Barack Obama.
Photo Courtesy ConocoPhillips Alaska
Secretary Sally Jewell, were contrary to the original purpose of the NPR-A when it was created in 1923. This was restated by Congress in 1976 when the reserve was transferred from the U.S. Navy to the Interior Department, to be managed by the BLM. The purpose of the petroleum reserve both in 1923 and 1976 was petroleum development.
When he was in Alaska this summer, new Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is- sued an order rescinding Haaland’s restric- tive regulations for the NPR-A including the moving protected areas. Burgum’s order required a 60-day public comment period that expired Aug. 4. Following that, the new Secretary can make rescinding Haaland’s rules official. What was irritating to Alaskans with Haaland’s actions, and those by former
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
12
13
www.AKRDC.org
ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW SUMMER 2025
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online