Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Conservation groups and indigenous speakers urge strongest protections in Coastal Plain SEIS
Summary
At the BLM–USFWS virtual meeting on the Coastal Plain SEIS, dozens of public commenters — including indigenous leaders, local residents, and conservation groups — urged the agencies to adopt the most protective alternative or choose no action to safeguard caribou, polar bear habitat, subsistence practices and cultural values.
Dozens of individuals and representatives of conservation organizations told the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the virtual public meeting that the draft SEIS does not go far enough to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain.
Pam Young, who identified herself as an Alaskan resident and avian conservation specialist, thanked the administration for canceling existing leases and urged the agencies to adopt the “most protections possible,” saying the draft SEIS fails to account for cultural harms to the Gwich'in nation and risks to the porcupine caribou herd and polar bear denning habitat.
Danielle Stickman, Arctic Landscape Director for the Wilderness Society, said none of the action alternatives sufficiently protect the coastal plain and called for stronger, non‑waivable protections. Stickman cited climate science and market trends, noting that major oil companies did not bid in the January 2021 lease sale and that financial institutions and insurers are increasingly reluctant to finance Arctic drilling.
Other commenters — including members of Alaska-based conservation organizations, hunters and Indigenous community members — made similar points. Carlin Itchock of the Wilderness Society and Princess Dajjai Johnson of the Nets'ai Igwej'en Nation urged that the agencies center indigenous rights, free prior and informed consent, and traditional knowledge. Multiple speakers asked that no surface occupancy stipulations be clarified and made enforceable so they provide lasting protections against infrastructure such as roads, pads and gravel pits.
Technical and process concerns also appeared in testimony. Becky Long raised water-resource questions and said the Coastal Plain lacks sufficient water for some exploration methods; Becky Wong (phone caller) flagged the suspension of state in‑stream flow reservation adjudications and asked how that suspension will affect the SEIS analysis. Rob Rosenfeld asked the agencies to add in-person hearings in Washington, D.C., and Anchorage to increase participation and argued the virtual setup limits public reach.
Why it matters: Public testimony centers the stakes for subsistence-dependent communities and highly vulnerable species, and commenters asked the agencies to adopt the strongest feasible protections in the final SEIS. Several speakers specifically supported Alternative D or No Action as pathways to reduce surface disturbance and preserve cultural and ecological functions.
What the agencies said in response: Agency presenters described revisions to greenhouse-gas and subsistence analyses and said the SEIS integrates new data and indigenous knowledge. When asked whether the lower acreage estimates in appendices change the legal ceiling, Serena Sweet (BLM project manager) answered that the lower acreages are analysis assumptions and do not alter the tax act’s 2,000-acre statutory ceiling.
Next steps: Commenters were encouraged to submit written comments via the BLM ePlanning page by Oct. 23, 2023; the agencies said they will consider the written record as they finalize the SEIS.
