This story was originally published by the Alaska Beacon.
James Brooks
Alaska Beacon
The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines Wednesday night to repeal development restrictions in large areas of Alaska, Montana and North Dakota.
The House’s vote, which must be duplicated by the Senate before becoming effective, seeks to reverse land management plans adopted in the final days of the Biden administration.
In Alaska, the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan was seen as an obstacle to the proposed 211-mile Ambler Road and the planned trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, proposed the elimination of the plan via the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to repeal regulations under certain circumstances.
“Why is this CRA so important? Revoking Public Land Order 5150 is the first step in allowing the State of Alaska to acquire lands that are critical to two essential projects: Ambler Road and the Alaska LNG pipeline,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas and chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Speaking on the House floor, Begich said he believes the Biden administration’s plan doesn’t represent a balanced approach and would restrict projects that could benefit Alaskans.
“It is federal overreach that is ensuring that Alaska’s wealth stays in the ground, unavailable to the people of one of America’s most impoverished regions,” he said of the portion of Interior Alaska affected by the order.
Doyon Inc., the regional Alaska Native corporation for Interior Alaska, wrote a letter of support for the repeal. Environmental groups and some Alaska Native tribal groups opposed it.
The Bering Sea-Interior Tribal Commission asked Congress to preserve the management plan, as did Protect the Kobuk, an organization opposing Ambler Road.
In a written statement, China Kantner of Protect the Kobuk noted that if federal lands are transferred to the state of Alaska, local hunters will lose subsistence hunting preferences because those are not allowed under the Alaska Constitution.
The Yukon land plan repeal and two other similar repeals advance to the Senate, where broad support is expected. Both of Alaska’s U.S. senators support a repeal.