Latest news with #Porcupinecaribou
Reuters
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Biden administration wrongly nixed oil, gas leases in Alaska refuge, US judge rules
March 26 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Alaska ruled that former President Joe Biden's administration lacked the authority to cancel oil and gas leases that had been issued for development within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage on Tuesday sided with, opens new tab a state-owned economic development public corporation in Alaska in finding that the U.S. Department of the Interior needed a court order in order to cancel its leases. The decision could bolster Republican President Donald Trump's administration efforts to reopen the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the refuge for oil and gas leasing. Trump on his first day back in office on January 20 signed an executive order that sought to rescind the Biden-era lease cancellations. In the final days of Trump's first term and a week before Biden, a Democrat, took office, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority had secured leases with initial terms of 10 years for seven tracts of land in ANWR covering 365,775 acres. Biden had vowed to protect the refuge from drilling, and his administration in September 2023 canceled the authority's leases for oil and gas development in ANWR, a 19-million-acre sanctuary for species including polar bears and Porcupine caribou. The authority in a lawsuit filed in October 2023 argued that the Biden administration's decision violated a clear Congressional mandate in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in Trump's first term that opened the Arctic up to drilling. Gleason, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed, saying the Interior Department "canceled AIDEA's leases without following the congressionally-mandated procedure for doing so." The judge sent the matter back to the Interior Department, now under Trump, for further action. "The Department of the Interior is moving quickly to reinstate the wrongfully terminated leases, consistent with President Trump's order to unleash Alaska's energy resources and further ensure American energy dominance," a department spokesperson said in a statement. The authority's counsel did not respond to a request for comment. Its case had been supported by the Republican-led state's government. Cori Mills, Alaska's deputy attorney general, in a statement hailed the ruling as "definitely a victory." "The state looks forward to working with the current federal administration on fully realizing the vast potential of ANWR to grow Alaska's economy and help America's energy independence," Mills said. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last week announced steps to reopen the Coastal Plain of the refuge for oil and gas leasing. A January 8 lease auction that had been mandated by Congress held under the Biden administration's Interior Department received no bids from energy companies. The case is Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority v. U.S. Department of the Interior, No. 3:24-cv-00051.
CBC
25-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Proposed national park in Peel River watershed enters feasibility stage
Protections for Teetł'it Gwinjik watershed see support during public input period Image | Teetł'it Gwinjik (Peel River Caption: William Teya driving his scow boat on Teetł'it Gwinjik (Peel River) with Jimmy Jerome beside him. Alice Blake, left, and Sarah Jerome, right, are in the foreground, June 16, 1996. (Ingrid Kritsch/Parks Canada) The Gwich'in Tribal Council, Na-Cho Nyӓk Dun First Nation, Parks Canada and Yukon government are moving into the feasibility stage of establishing a 3,000 square kilometre national park in the Teetł'it Gwinjik (Peel River) Watershed. Gwich'in Tribal Council Grand Chief Frederick (Sonny) Blake Jr. said the area has been long-sought for protection, especially because the Porcupine caribou winter there before travelling on to their calving grounds in Alaska. "Our people took a big stand against any mining in [the Peel watershed] and this is a big first step into ensuring that this area is protected for future generations," he said. The proposed park, first suggested by Gwich'in Tribal Council, is now undergoing a feasibility study which will help the four parties decide if they want to move ahead with establishing a co-managed national park in northeast Yukon, along the N.W.T. border. "I think it's a giant step," said Blake. "It's very important as a whole Gwich'in nation … what we all yearn for is the protection of the lands where the Porcupine caribou calve." The area is important to Gwich'in Tribal Council and Na-Cho Nyӓk Dun for fishing and hunting too — its headwaters flow to the Mackenzie River in Fort McPherson, said Blake. "People from Teetł'it Zheh [Fort McPherson] have travelled up the Peel into the watershed. Many families trekked up in the fall and Fort McPherson and Aklavik are actually along the Peel," he said. Efforts to protect the watershed started three decades ago, but ramped up in 2012 in response to mining claims staked in the Gwich'in Settlement Area, said Blake. He said there have been 400 additional mining claims removed from the proposed area. Over the next few months, the Gwich'in Tribal Council will work with First Nations like Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in to secure the removal of roughly 20 remaining mine claims, said Blake. Adriana Bacheschi, director of national park establishment for Parks Canada, said turning Teetł'it Gwinjik Watershed into a national park is one of the strongest environmental protections available. It builds on interim protections identified in the 2019 Peel Regional Land Use Plan and creates opportunities to support Indigenous-led conservation, protections for Porcupine caribou habitat, and the recovery of species at risk, she said. "The consultation has gone well. There is support for the idea of a national park in the region," she said of the results of a public consultation which wrapped up this month. The study area includes Nihtal Gyit (Turner Lake Wetlands), the Edigii Njik (Caribou River) area, and a large section of the Teetł'it Gwinjik (Peel River) Corridor. Flying over these areas knowing they could soon be protected was a "very proud moment" for Na-Cho Nyӓk Dun First Nation Chief Dawna Hope. "We've been protecting these lands according to the guidance of our ancestors as a bread basket for hard times coming," she said. Hope said moving forward on the proposed park is a "significant milestone" because national parks grant protections that prevent mineral staking or agricultural and industrial activities. Moving into the feasibility stage of the proposal brings optimism for Hope, whose First Nation has been "in the shadow of a lot of failure and a lot of disappointment lately and a lot of destruction on our lands." A catastrophic leak in June saw an estimated four million tonnes of ore treated with cyanide slide off a heap at the Eagle Gold mine and 19 million litres of toxic water have leaked from a containment pond at the facility since December. Hope said signing a collaboration agreement in 2024 to explore the option of a park, in support of the Gwich'in, furthers the implementation of the Peel land use plan. "Our citizens have indicated support for this process in going into the feasibility [stage] to see what's possible and how we uphold those agreements," said Hope. "The waters are precious to us and we'd like to maintain the waters as cleanly as possible," said Hope. The lands proposed for protection are closely tied to traditional waterways, traditional trails and historical meeting places, said Hope. "With those protections, we know that the status quo of the wilderness will be maintained, which allows us the space to ensure that we are able to hold space for our language and culture in those areas for future generations to come," said Hope. Hope said the work to propose a park has also re-established family connections, and that elders have reconnected with family on either side of the Richardson Mountains. "Our elders are very excited," she said. "They can understand each other in their traditional languages, even though we have a mountain that divides us." "This was a significant milestone for us and we're very proud to continue to advocate for full implementation of the [Peel land use plan], and for the protection of these most important lands for us," said Hope.
