On the President’s first day in office, January 20, the White House released Executive Order 14153, titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” (the “Alaska EO”). The Alaska EO states that:

The State of Alaska holds an abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources including, among others, energy, mineral, timber, and seafood. Unlocking this bounty of natural wealth will raise the prosperity of our citizens while helping to enhance our Nation’s economic and national security for generations to come. By developing these resources to the fullest extent possible, we can help deliver price relief for Americans, create high-quality jobs for our citizens, ameliorate our trade imbalances, augment the Nation’s exercise of global energy dominance, and guard against foreign powers weaponizing energy supplies in theaters of geopolitical conflict.

Unleashing this opportunity, however, requires an immediate end to the assault on Alaska’s sovereignty and its ability to responsibly develop these resources for the benefit of the Nation. It is, therefore, imperative to immediately reverse the punitive restrictions implemented by the previous administration that specifically target resource development on both State and Federal lands in Alaska.

To fulfill this aim, the order directs broad regulatory changes with regard to lands and development projects in Alaska.

Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program

The first broad category of changes affects the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing (CPLP) program. First, the order withdraws Secretarial Order 3401, which halted all gas and oil leasing activities on the coastal plain and ordered a new environmental analysis for the region. Second, the Alaska EO rescinds a Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (“EIS”)[1] related to the CPLP which had selected an oil and gas lease option that would disturb the least amount of surface area in the plain. The goal was to limit the total acreage that could be leased and altered to 995 acres of surface area in the coastal plain, compared to a potential 1,400 and 2,000 acres in other proposals.

The Alaska EO halts all activities taken under the 2024 CPLP Record of Decision, which officially implemented the Supplemental EIS and would have made 400,000 acres of land on the coastal plain available for oil and gas leasing. A total of 1.16 million acres will remain unavailable. The order also reinstates a former EIS for the CPLP which had been finalized under Trump’s first term as president. That EIS opened the entire coastal plain for lease: an increase of 1.16 million acres compared to the Biden-era EIS. In addition, the 2019 EIS contained minimal surface occupancy stipulations—i.e., 1.2 million acres of surface area would be disturbed.

Altogether, the latest actions will reverse environmental protections applied by the Biden administration and greatly increase the land available to be leased and disturbed.

In sum, this vast expansion will further the Trump administration’s goal of developing Alaska’s energy potential; however, the disruption of more surface area may have negative impacts on populations of caribou and other animal species essential for subsistence hunting. Such negative effects may also run counter to the Alaska EO’s directive that federal agencies must consider subsistence needs when creating land management plans, which we discuss below.

Ambler Road Project

The second major shift involves the Ambler Road project, which is an attempt to create a 211-mile roadway that would connect the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District and allow easier transportation of materials to and from the Ambler Mining District. The Alaska EO places a moratorium on the Supplemental Ambler Road EIS, developed during the Biden administration, and reinstates a 2020 EIS, developed during the first Trump administration.

This change increases the likelihood the Ambler Road project will go ahead, which a Biden-era supplemental EIS had determined would not be appropriate. The 2020 EIS reinstated the proposed 211-mile road and designated an option that would have fewer environmental impacts than the alternatives. By implementing an EIS which supports the development of Ambler Road, the federal government is in a position to build it.

Still, just as the Biden administration’s rejection of the Ambler Road project was challenged in court, re-approval of the project may receive legal pushback, which would mean additional delays.

National Petroleum Reserve

The Alaska EO also addresses the National Petroleum Reserve (“NPR”) on the North Slope. The order rescinds the BLM’s “Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska” and “Special Areas Within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska” rules. The first rule changed the regulatory framework for examining environmental impacts of drilling and other oil and gas projects in the NPR, and placed a special emphasis on protection of fish and wildlife, as well as surface areas with subsistence value. The Special Areas rule allowed the BLM greater flexibility in designating areas of the NPR as “special”; i.e., those that contain significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, or historical or scenic value. Once an area is deemed “special,” federal law requires any exploration for oil or gas in that region must be performed in the manner that will have the least impact on surface ground. This provides the greatest protection to land and wildlife, but may also delay or hinder oil and gas lessees from determining the best areas to drill. Repeal of these rules will grant oil and gas companies greater access to the NPR and fulfill the Trump administration’s aim of further developing energy resources in Alaska, despite potential harms to land, fish, and wildlife.

The Alaska EO also reinstates Secretarial Order 3352, which directs the Department of the Interior to identify and maximize leasable tracts of land in the NPR, plus a 2020 Record of Decision developed during Trump’s first administration. The Record of Decision sought to make about 18.6 million acres available for oil and gas leasing, and allow infrastructure to be developed on 13 million of those acres. The order also directs the BLM to revoke any guidance “related to implementation of protection of subsistence resource values in the existing special areas and proposed new and modified special areas” in the NPR.

By scrapping BLM rules and subsistence-related guidance while reinstating Secretarial Order 3352 and the 2020 Record of Decision, the Trump administration makes clear it prioritizes oil and gas drilling over environmental and subsistence. Opening 18 million acres of the NPR, and providing that infrastructure can be developed on 13 million acres, will likely create numerous jobs, but will also likely affect migratory wildlife populations and alter the landscape of the NPR forever.

Effects on Alaska Native Corporations

The Alaska EO addresses various Public Land Orders (“PLOs”). Many Alaska Native Corporations as well as the State of Alaska have not finished selecting and taking ownership of the land they are entitled to under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the Alaska Statehood Act. PLOs may “withdraw” land, making it unavailable for selection by ANCs or the State, or otherwise unavailable for mining claims or mineral leases. For example, in 1971, PLO 5150 (36 Fed. Reg. 25410), currently identified in modified form as PLO 7150, withdrew sections of land located in the interior of Alaska for use as a utility and transportation corridor. Though certain portions were made available to the State of Alaska through PLO 7150, the majority remains unavailable for selection by ANCs. The Alaska EO requires that modifications or even rescission of PLO 5150 be considered, however. Such modifications or rescission would provide ANCs and the State of Alaska opportunities to select and take ownership of those lands—as well as free those lands for further development.

Five PLOs will also be reinstated by the Alaska EO: PLOs 7899, 7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903. PLO 7899, which revoked multiple previous PLOs, applies to more than 9.7 million acres of land in the Kobuk-Seward Peninsula planning area. These lands were previously withdrawn from entry; the reinstatement of PLO 7899 means they will be released for individuals and companies to stake mining claims or start the process of filing oil and gas leases on these lands.

The reinstatement of PLOs 7900–7903 will have similar effects on the Ring of Fire, Bay, Bering-Sea Western Interior, and East Alaska planning areas, respectively. Because these PLOs were never published in the Federal Register, however, they do not contain opening dates. Further work will have to be performed by the BLM before these zones are specifically identified and re-opened.

In addition to revoking and reinstating specific PLOs, the Alaska EO requires review of all public land orders that made land unavailable for selection by ANCs. As discussed above, ‎PLOs may “withdraw” parcels for selection and ownership by ‎ANCs. Should further public land orders be reversed, and additional territory become available for ‎selection, ANCs will be in a better position to take ownership of the total lands to which they ‎are entitled under ANCSA. The fulfillment of ANCSA may be ‎accompanied by reduced environmental protections, however, since these regions will no longer fall under the management of the federal government.‎

Effects on Alaska Native Tribes

The Alaska EO directs the Department of Interior to review all guidance regarding the placing of Alaska Native lands in trust. In 2024, the Alaska Federal District Court ruled the DOI may take and hold Alaska Native Tribal Land in trust, meaning the federal government can manage the land for the benefit of the Alaska Native Tribe. In addition, when tribal land is taken into trust, it is classified as “Indian Country,” which allows Tribes to exercise significant political power and sovereignty on such lands. While the Court found that DOI had not followed proper procedure in that specific case, the ruling that DOI could take land into trust was regarded as a win for Alaska Tribes. By ordering review of any prior DOI guidance on the issue, the Trump administration appears to signal it will not side with Alaska Native Tribes in future litigation regarding trust land.

The Alaska EO requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to deny a “pending request to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to an [sic] ‎establish [an] indigenous sacred site in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic.” ‎‎During Trump’s first term, a number of oil and gas leases were awarded in the coastal plain; these were subsequently canceled by the Biden administration. The Gwich’in Tribes in Venetie and Arctic Village petitioned to have a 1.6-million-acre Indigenous Sacred Site established in the coastal plain due to its use as calving grounds for caribou. The establishment of a Sacred Site would prevent drilling activities from taking place there. By ordering the Fish and Wildlife Service to deny the request, the Trump administration demands the privilege to issue oil and gas leases on the contested lands.

Additional Actions

In addition to all the above, the Alaska EO directs the following actions:

• • Development of a road corridor between the villages of King Cove and Cold Bay. This project was approved during President Trump’s first term, but the Biden administration withdrew approval of the project. Development of this road requires that King Cove Corporation, the village’s native corporation, swap lands with the DOI. This exchange and road development has long been requested by residents of King Cove, who rely on the use of Cold Bay’s all-weather airport. The eleven-mile road would provide residents with greater access to the airport, vital for medical emergencies because neither town has a hospital. Environmental organizations are concerned, however, that development of the road will disrupt the Izembik National Wildlife Refuge and the species that live there.
  • Rescission of the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan covered in the 2024 Central Yukon Record of Decision, and reimplementation of a draft EIS and Resource Plan developed during the first Trump administration. A resource management plan sets a broad agenda for both conservation and development in a particular area. The 2024 Resource Management Plan took a conservation-heavy approach, in which approximately 3.6 million acres would be designated as areas of critical environmental concern, and no additional lands would be provided for selection by the State of Alaska or ANCs. Instead, the draft EIS and resource plan sought by the Alaska EO would set aside only 77,000 acres as areas of concern and allow mineral entry and development on additional land. Furthermore, the Trump-era resource management plan recommends full revocation of PLO 5150, discussed above, to allow the State of Alaska and ANCs more options in selecting land.
  • Revocation of Biden-era regulations for hunting and trapping in national preserves and replacement with regulations from the first Trump administration. This will increase legal options for hunting bears, caribou, coyotes, and wolves. For example, it will once again be legal to capture brown bears that have been baited, as well as swimming caribou, or seize caribou from a motorized watercraft.
  • Federal agencies are directed to review waterways in the State of Alaska and “restore ownership of said waterways to the State as appropriate.” Control of waterways affects not only whether the Federal Government or the State is charged with enforcing laws and regulations on them, but even which laws and regulation apply. Under federal law, land beneath navigable waterways belongs to the State, and the State has authority to manage resources on those waterways. When waterways, or the lands beneath them, are transferred to State ownership, State of Alaska laws and regulations take effect. This will involve not only fishing, but the types of watercraft that can be used, and the types of activities that can be pursued from said watercraft, such as hunting wild animals.
  • Federal agencies are directed to weigh the Alaskan cultural significance of hunting, fishing, and subsistence activities, as well as consult with State fish and wildlife agencies, when developing land management plans or regulations that affect hunting and fishing. Alaska is subject to a unique federal law, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. ANILCA recognizes that in Alaska, and particularly rural Alaska, food must be caught or killed rather than purchased from a grocery store. To that end, this law requires that, when bag limits for fish or wildlife must be imposed to protect the sustainability of the species, subsistence uses are given a top priority—e., fishing commercially or for sport will be curtailed before subsistence fishing.

ANILCA also provides that the state, rather than the federal government, may manage these fisheries if the state implements a similar statutory scheme to protect subsistence needs. By requiring federal agencies to consult with state fish and game officials when considering subsistence needs, the Trump administration appears to be offering the state a seat at the table, in the absence of Alaska statutes that mirror ANILCA. Additionally, by directing federal agencies to consider subsistence needs, the Trump administration may be placing a roadblock in the way of its own energy-development goals. Both the King Cove to Cold Bay roadway and the issuance of oil and gas leases in the coastal plain have been criticized for potential effects on subsistence lifestyles.

• • Reimplementation of an exception to the 2001 “Roadless Area” rule, thus allowing roads to be developed for logging purposes in the Tongass National Forest. The Roadless Rule “prohibits road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest” in specific areas to prevent landscape alteration. In 2020, following a petition by the State of Alaska, the Tongass region was exempted from this rule; this exemption was repealed by the Biden administration. By re-implementing the exemption, the State of Alaska or Federal Government may begin developing roads in the Tongass.

Additional Orders

Beyond the Alaska EO, further executive and secretarial orders that affect Alaska have been issued:

• • On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued the “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” Executive Order. As part of this order, President Trump renamed Denali to Mount McKinley, which was completed by the DOI on January 24th. The mountain has been known as Denali by Alaska Natives since before the founding of the United States. Its government name was changed to Denali in 2015. President Trump’s order reverts the official government name of the mountain to Mount McKinley, though the surrounding area will retain its title of Denali National Park and Reserve.
  • On February 3, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum issued Secretarial Order 3422 in response to the Alaska EO. Secretarial Order 3422 copies the Alaska EO by rescinding Secretarial Order 3401 (discussed above), which halted oil- and gas-related actions on the coastal plain, and reinstating Secretarial Order 3352 (also discussed above), which emphasizes the maximization of oil and gas leasing in the NPR. Secretarial Order 3422 also provides 15 days for DOI Assistant Secretaries of Land and Minerals Management, Fish and Wildlife, and Policy, Management and Budget to provide action plans to implement the Trump Administration’s goal of “unlocking Alaska’s massive bounty of natural wealth.”
  • Secretarial Orders 3417, 3418, 3419, 3420, and 3421, while not Alaska-specific, will likely affect environmental protections and energy development in Alaska. These orders seek to expedite the leasing and development of energy resources, terminate agency actions taken under the Biden administration, identify ways to lower energy prices, make sections of the continental shelf available for oil and gas leasing, and eliminate numerous federal regulations. Specific to Alaska is Secretarial Order 3420’s rescission of a Biden-era memo that made over 44 million acres of sea off Alaska’s coast unavailable for oil and gas leasing. By reversing that memo, the Department of Interior can begin investigating the feasibility of granting oil and gas leases.

The effects of the Alaska EO and subsequent secretarial orders will be felt by all Alaskans, but particularly those who work in the oil and gas industries or for ANCs. The Trump administration’s general theme is to remove environmental protections and allow development to go forward. This policy will provide opportunities for certain groups; to others, it may come as a disappointment, even a threat.

The Alaska EO provides greater opportunities for ANCs to select lands under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, but it also signifies diminished respect for Alaska Native tribal sovereignty through its reconsideration of guidance regarding trust land and the denial of establishing a sacred site in the coastal plain. Although the importance of subsistence activities is acknowledged, the Alaska EO identifies such considerations as meaningless for the petroleum reserve region.

The effects of the Alaska EO will take time to be felt. The rescission and re-implementation of various EISs and PLOs does not determine an outcome; rather, this adjusts the playing field: energy development projects are now “further along” than under the Biden administration. Nevertheless, the development of energy resources will not occur immediately, and court proceedings and injunctions may impede such developments. Businesses and individuals who have stakes in Alaska’s resources may want to consider taking steps to utilize or protect their interests.

This article summarizes aspects of the law and does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice with regard to your situation, you should contact an attorney.

[1] Because many Environmental Impact Statements are composed of multiple volumes, some hyperlinks will lead to relevant pages on the Bureau of Land Management website. These pages will contain links to the various EIS volumes. Records of decisions, and other documentation related to these projects, will likewise be found there.