for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. It was announced at an informational session for the rule, hosted by the BLM, at the Dena’ina Center on Tuesday.
The BLM wants to balance the oil and gas activities with the protection of the environment, as required by the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, which protects sensitive landscapes in the reserve. In addition, the rule would protect long-standing subsistence activities and create involvement with Alaska tribal governments.
“The Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the earth,” according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management. They say those conditions are impacting caribou movement, the deterioration of permafrost, along with altering habitats of wildlife and plants throughout the NPR-A.
One man was angered by the BLM holding a hearing with them not willing to hear people voice concerns. “This would have an impact on a lot of my membership and the concern that we have is the language, as we just learned in the briefing, is very confusing. This process has been extremely rushed and I think it leaves a lot more questions than answers,” Capozzi said.