Executive Order: Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential

Date Issued: Jan. 20, 2025

Executive Summary

This executive order facilitates the development and production of natural resources on federal and state lands in Alaska, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and prioritizes the development of liquified natural gas (LNG) and its transport from Alaska to other regions of the U.S. While virtually all of its actions focus on the development of oil, gas, critical mineral and timber resources in Alaska, the order also requires the secretary of the interior to "review all Interior guidance regarding the taking of … land into trust" for the benefit of Alaska Natives and "all Public Land Orders withdrawing lands for selection of Alaska Native Corporations to determine if any such agency action should be revoked" as inconsistent with the Alaska Statehood Act and other federal statutes that specifically apply to Alaska. The order also directs the interior secretary to deny a request pending before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish an Indigenous sacred site in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, rescind the National Park Service's final rule entitled "Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves" (July 3, 2024), and review the framework of hunting, fishing and subsistence rights in Alaska.

Policy Actions

• Efficiently maximize the development and production of natural resources located on federal and state lands within Alaska
• Expedite the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in Alaska
• Prioritize the development of Alaska's LNG potential, including the sale and transportation of Alaskan LNG to other regions of the U.S. and allied nations within the Pacific region

Specific Agency Actions

• This executive action orders the heads of all executive departments and agencies, including but not limited to the interior secretary – along with the secretary of commerce, acting through the under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, as well as the secretary of the army, acting through the assistant secretary of the army for public works – to take all necessary steps to revoke any orders, policies or agency actions that are inconsistent with the policy outlined in this order.
• The interior secretary shall take all necessary steps to:
• Withdraw Secretarial Order 3401, June 1, 2021 (Comprehensive Analysis and Temporary Halt on All Activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Relating to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program)
• Rescind the cancellation of any leases within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, initiate additional leasing through the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and issue all permits, right-of-way permits and easements necessary for the exploration, development and production of oil and gas from leases within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• Rescind the following Bureau of Land Management (BLM) actions:
• Final rule entitled "Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska" (May 7, 2024)
• Notice entitled "Special Areas Within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska" (July 17, 2024)
• Any guidance issued relating to the implementation of protection of subsistence resource values in the existing special areas and proposed new and modified special areas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska
• Rescind the 2024 final supplemental environmental impact statement for Alaska's Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and reinstate the 2019 statement
• Place a temporary moratorium on all activities and privileges granted to any party pursuant to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program record of decision signed on Dec. 8, 2024, as the record of decision signed on Aug. 21, 2020, is reinstated
• Evaluate changes to, including the potential rescission of, Public Land Order 5150, signed by the assistant secretary of the interior on Dec. 28, 1971, and any subsequent amendments, modifications or corrections to it
• Place a temporary moratorium on all activities and privileges granted to any party pursuant to the record of decision signed on June 27, 2024, entitled "Ambler Road Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision"
• Reinstate the record of decision signed on July 23, 2020, by the BLM and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entitled "Ambler Road Environmental Impact Statement Joint Record of Decision"
• Facilitate the expedited development of a road corridor between the community of King Cove and the all-weather airport located in Cold Bay
• Place a temporary moratorium on all activities and privileges granted to any party pursuant to the record of decision signed on April 25, 2022, entitled "National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision"
• Reinstate the Public Land Orders 7899-7903 in their original form to revoke approximately 28 million acres of public lands within the Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward Peninsula and Ring of Fire planning areas
• Immediately review all U.S. Department of the Interior guidance regarding the taking of Alaska Native lands into trust and all Public Land Orders withdrawing lands for selection by Alaska Native Corporations to determine if any such agency action should be revoked to ensure the Interior Department's actions are consistent with the Alaska Statehood Act of 1958 (Public Law 85-508), Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601, et seq.), Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act (Public Law 108-452) and Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans Land Allotment Program under Section 1629g-1 of Title 43, U.S. Code
• Rescind the record of decision entitled "Central Yukon Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan," signed on Nov. 12, 2024, and reimplement the 2020 draft resource management plan and environmental impact statement
• Rescind the National Park Service final rule entitled "Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves" (July 3, 2024)
• Deny the pending request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish an Indigenous sacred site in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• Immediately conduct a review of waterways in the state of Alaska and direct the BLM, in consultation with the state of Alaska, to provide recommendations of navigable waterways subject to the equal footing doctrine and the Submerged Lands Act of 1953
• Direct all bureaus of the Interior Department to 1) consider the Alaskan cultural significance of hunting and fishing and the statutory priority of subsistence management required by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) to conduct meaningful consultation with the state fish and wildlife management agencies prior to enacting land management plans or other regulations that affect the ability of Alaskans to hunt and fish on public lands and 2) ensure to the greatest extent possible that hunting and fishing opportunities on federal lands are consistent with similar opportunities on state lands
• Identify and assess, in collaboration with the secretary of defense, the authorities and public and private resources necessary to immediately achieve the development and export of energy resources from Alaska – including but not limited to the long-term viability of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the associated federal right-of-way as an energy corridor of critical national importance – to advance the nation's domestic and regional energy dominance, and submit that assessment to the president
• The secretary of agriculture shall take all necessary steps to:
• Place a temporary moratorium on all activities and privileges authorized by the final rule and record of decision entitled "Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation; National Forest System Lands in Alaska"
• The secretary of the army shall take all necessary steps to:
• Render all assistance requested by the governor of Alaska to facilitate the clearing and maintenance of transportation infrastructure, consistent with applicable law
• Work with the assistant secretary of the army for civil works, under the direction of the secretary of the army, to immediately review, revise or rescind any agency action that may in any way hinder, slow or otherwise delay any critical project in the state of Alaska
• The secretary of commerce shall take all necessary steps to:
• Review, revise or rescind any agency action that may in any way hinder, slow or otherwise delay any critical project in the state of Alaska

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