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Native American tribes in Alaska celebrated the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) decision to reinstate leasing and expansion for Alaska’s oil and gas, community leaders told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

DOI announced Thursday that DOI Secretary Doug Burgum is “taking immediate steps to unleash Alaska’s untapped natural resource potential and support President Donald Trump’s vision of American Energy Dominance,” through reopening oil drilling in areas that the Biden administration had previously moved to shut down. Native community leaders in Alaska told the DCNF that the DOI under the Trump administration has taken a step in a “favorable” direction.

“It’s cautious optimism,”Nagruk Harcharek, president of Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, (VOICE) a nonprofit organization that represents 21 different Native American corporations and communities in Alaska, told the DCNF. “We feel like we’re going to be able to get some things done with a more favorable administration, but we’re also being careful about it because we don’t want to threaten that cultural base and lifestyle that we rely on every day.”

Drilling activity is again open for development on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) and the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge’s (ANWR) Coastal Plain, after the Biden administration moved to forward a 2023 proposed rule to shut down development in 2024. VOICE and its members announced that they “applaud the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Actions on the North Slope,” in a March 20 press release shared with the DCNF.

“It was just constant barrage of surprise after surprise,” Harcharek recalled the actions of the Biden administration to the DCNF. Harcharek referenced that the previous administration claimed to be the “most tribally friendly administration in the history of the United States,” though the native communities in the North Slope of Alaska “didn’t get that sentiment whatsoever.”

Harcharek signaled that the Biden administration promised “meaningful consultation with the indigenous communities who stand to be most affected by policy decisions,” on paper, and that they “were hopeful that it would be included in those dialogues” surrounding the National Petroleum Reserve. He said there was “very minimal consultation,” though this impacts his communities’ “backyard.”

“Oftentimes we were finding out policy changes in the news,” Harcharek said. “Which is not ideal when they have our phone numbers.”

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“VOICE gets mischaracterized as an oil and gas advocacy organization and that’s not true,” Harcharek said. “We are here to advocate for an economic base to support our communities and to support our culture.” Harcharek continued to note that “it just so happens that the way we do that right now” is through advocating for pro-oil and pro-gas policies in Alaska “because the economic base the North Slope is through resource development.”

Harcharek noted that 95% of the North Slope budget comes from oil and gas infrastructure taxes. “The economy in the North Slope is oil and gas activity,” he said. Schools, healthcare, roads and running water all came from the “economic base our early leaders ensured that we had access to,” Harcharek said, expressing concerns that without access to oil and gas resource development, their community is forced “to rely on the state and the federal government.”

“Secretary Burgum’s decision 
 suggests our community’s voice is finally being heard in Washington,” Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation (KIC) president Charles Lampe wrote in the press release. Reopening these lands for “development opportunities on the Coastal Plain” is met with “overwhelming support from our community,” Lampe continued.

“DOI’s announcement is a positive step toward stronger engagement with North Slope Iñupiat communities—and a welcome change from the last administration’s approach that put politics over our people, our self-determination, and its legal obligation to consult with governments on the North Slope,” Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope natural resources director and tribal secretary Doreen Leavitt told the DCNF. “We appreciate Secretary Burgum’s early attention to our region and encourage the Trump-Vance administration to maintain open, ongoing dialogue with North Slope leaders to ensure policies that support our communities and self-determination in the long-term.”

“The Department of Interior’s decision last week makes it clear that Alaska is once again being put at the forefront of America’s Energy future,” Republican Alaska Rep. Nick Begich told the DCNF. “The voices of North Slope Iñupiat communities were not given a seat at the table under the Biden Administration and Alaska’s resources were locked up with the stroke of a pen.”

“The decision to reinstate leases and open the door to responsible development in NPR-A and ANWR will benefit Alaska Native communities across the state and every household and business that relies on reliable Energy,” Begich continued. “When Alaskans have the freedom to develop our vast natural resources, every American stands to benefit – from lower Energy prices to stronger national security. Energy touches every aspect of American life. From heating our homes and fueling our economy to ensuring the strength of our supply chains – Energy is freedom.” “The road to American Energy dominance begins in Alaska, and I will continue working alongside the Trump Administration to ensure Alaskans are not just heard but are leading the way in securing America’s Energy future,” Begich said.

Alaska Sens. Murkowski and Sullivan’s offices did not offer a comment but instead pointed the DCNF to a Thursday press release from the Alaskan delegation.

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The group wrote on X in April 2024 that the Biden administration “cannot credibly claim this is for us when our communities & culture will suffer from this rule.”

“North Slope Iñupiat leaders were not consulted by the federal government prior to its actions,” the press release states. “By excluding local Indigenous communities from the policymaking table, the Biden administration produced deeply flawed policies that would have imposed dire economic consequences on the North Slope Iñupiat’s communities and culture.”

The DOI and Burgum’s announcement “shows that this administration is taking a different approach than its predecessor by listening to North Slope Iñupiat voices,” wrote Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope natural resources director and tribal secretary Doreen Leavitt in the press release. “While these early executive and secretarial actions are promising, it is important that the Trump-Vance administration engage early and frequently with our North Slope leaders to ensure durable policy in our region that benefits our communities and advances our self-determination in the long term.”

The DOI and Burgum’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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