Environmentalists sue over NPR-A plans

Environmental groups are suing the federal government over the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to amend its plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska northeast.

The Anchorage Daily News reported March 31 that the suit was filed earlier in the week in Juneau by the National Audubon Society, Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society.

BLM officials in Anchorage declined to comment on the lawsuit, but Henri Bisson, BLM’s Alaska state director, told the Daily News that BLM’s leasing plan is likely to change significantly as a result of ongoing talks with officials from the North Slope Borough. The borough has expressed subsistence and other concerns about BLM’s proposed amendments to the northeast NPR-A plan.

The environmental groups contend changes in the northeast plan will undue vital environmental protections.

Environmental groups also sued seeking to halt oil exploration in the western NPR-A; a judge ruled in favor of BLM in that suit.