On July 1, on behalf of its 23 members and their North Slope constituents, Voice of the Arctic Inupiat filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management's final rule for the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, or NPR-A.
This rule, which was crafted without "meaningful engagement with those who live on the North Slope and therefore will be most affected, will significantly hinder economic development in the region and presents serious risks to Indigenous communities and Inupiaq culture," the Voice said in a July 1 press release.
"Our complaint speaks for the North Slope Inupiat's voices whom the federal government has chosen to silence, stonewall, and scorn since it blindsided us with its unilateral mandates in September 2023," said Voice President Nagruk Harcharek. "It is unfortunate that we have been forced to turn to the courts for resolution on this seriously flawed rule and the process that produced it. If the administration would have meaningfully engaged with the North Slope Inupiat, we would likely not be in this position today."
The petroleum reserve is part of ancestral Inupiaq homelands and is located entirely within the North Slope Borough, a home-rule government created to ensure the area's communities have a say and benefit from responsible development in the region. The borough has the authority to tax infrastructure on the North Slope, which provides more than 95% of the borough's tax revenues and funds essential public services like modern water and sewer systems, schools, health clinics and wildlife management to preserve its subsistence resources for future generations.
"The proliferation of these basic services has delivered quantifiably positive outcomes for our people. In 1969, our average life expectancy was just 34 years. Today, we can expect to live to an average age of 77. This increase is the largest of its kind over this period in the United States," the Voice said.
"The rulemaking process was rife with cancelled meetings, unreturned phone calls, and disrespect toward our people, exemplified by BLM's decision to release its rule and the accompanying public comment period in the midst of our whole-of-community fall subsistence season. At every step, members of our North Slope Inupiat tribes, village corporations, regional corporations, and their elected leaders have been unanimous in their opposition to the rule," the Voice said.
Voice is a nonprofit organization established in 2015 by the region's collective elected Inupiat leadership and is dedicated to preserving and advancing North Slope Inupiat cultural and economic self-determination. Its members include local governments, Alaska Native corporations, federally recognized tribes and tribal non-profits across the North Slope of Alaska.
--KAY CASHMAN
