Sierra Club Statement on Trump Administration Opening Millions of Acres of Protected Public Lands to Mining

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of the Interior announced today it would revoke two public land orders to open more than two million acres of public lands in Alaska to drilling and mining.

In an announcement late Friday afternoon, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order rescinding two land withdrawals north of the Yukon River in Alaska, in an area long prized by the oil and gas industry. The now-rescinded public land orders date to the 1970s.

Burgum’s order would end protections for these federal public lands, handing over more authority to the Alaska state government, which has sought to make the area more open to industrial mining and drilling.

Reversing protections for public lands in Alaska to enable vastly expanded industrial energy development in Alaska has been a priority for the Trump Administration.

In response, Dan Ritzman, Sierra Club’s Director of Conservation, released the following statement:

“This order will only help corporate polluters transform the Last Frontier into an industrial zone. It’s a decision meant to help line corporate pockets and ignore local communities, Tribes, and wildlife who rely on these landscapes. Alaska is home to some of the country’s last true wild places, and proposed projects like Alaska LNG and the Ambler road will lead to irreversible damages to these irreplaceable lands.”

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.