Gwich’in Nation Responds to Trump Administration Announcing First Step in Oil and Gas Lease Sale of Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge
For Immediate Release – February 2, 2026
Fairbanks, AK – Today, the Bureau of Land Management announced a call for nominations for a lease sale on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is the first step in the process of leasing the Coastal Plain – an area sacred to the Gwich’in Nation. The Gwich’in Nation has for decades opposed any development of the Arctic Refuge, and continues to stand together and oppose this action by the Trump administration.
This announcement comes on the heels of two consecutive failed Arctic Refuge lease sales in 2021 and 2025, and amid growing evidence that even oil and gas companies are skeptical that Arctic drilling is worth the financial risks and investment. The first lease sale generated less than 1% of the estimated leasing revenue and the second lease sale resulted in not a single bid.
Time and again, the Gwich’in have called attention to the fact that any drilling in the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd would negatively impact our subsistence and violate our rights as Indigenous people. Western science is confirming what our traditional knowledge tells us: that development along the migration route, or in the calving grounds of caribou, negatively impacts their health and herd numbers.
“The Trump administration is hung up on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic Refuge because they cannot admit that the original Trump leasing plan–established following the 2017 Tax Act–was a complete and utter failure,” said Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. “We condemn these actions, and encourage officials in the Trump administration–and our representatives in the Alaska delegation–to acknowledge and accept what we as Gwich’in know, and what the majority of the American people agree on: the Arctic Refuge is no place for drilling. It deserves to be protected and preserved for the wildlife that depend on it, and for all our futures.”
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For Media Inquiries:
Genae Lako, 303-918-6290
Kristen Moreland, Executive Director, 907-328-9634