28.3 Million Acres of Public Land at Risk in Alaska

Jenny Rowland-Shea, Sung Chung, Sally Hardin, Matt Lee-Ashley, and Kate Kelly sound an alarm about the actions of the Trump administration to liquidate public lands in Alaska, aided by a state government beset by budget shortfalls as the oil and gas extraction industry falters.

The article describes the stakes of the Trump administration's efforts in superlative terms: "The Trump administration is quietly leading one of the largest liquidations of America’s public lands since the late 19th century," and, "[i]f fully implemented, this effort could result in the transfer, sale, or private exploitation of more than 28.3 million acres of public lands in Alaska…"

After explaining the context of the Alaskan economy's dependence on oil and gas companies, and the state government's dependence on the taxes generated by those companies, the article focuses on specific examples of the public land targeted by the Trump administration. Included in each section on these specific areas of Alaska are descriptions of the specific tactics used by the Trump administration to proceed with liquidation of the public land, including 9.2 million acres of the Tongass National Forest, 1.6 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 13.35 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and more.

Hat tip to Chris D'Angleo for sharing the link to the source article.