President Trump issued a flurry of executive orders on Day One that signal a different approach to energy and environmental policy. Alaska is the subject of its own executive order, “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” that reinstates oil and gas leases; prioritizes mining, logging, and Alaska liquified natural gas (LNG) resources; and expedites arduous permitting.

The Trump administration states the new U.S. policy is to “fully avail itself of Alaska’s vast lands and resources for the benefit of the Nation and the American citizens who call Alaska home.” There will surely be legal challenges from national environmentalist groups, but the order signals a welcome change in approach after the Biden administration repeatedly threw Alaskans to the wolves

Mr. Biden paused oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), formally revoked existing leases in late 2023, and held a lease sale designed to fail in the final weeks of his administration. His administration also reinstated the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest, which stymies logging and road building in the Southeast Alaska temperate rainforest. In April 2024, the Bureau of Land Management shut down about half of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to any permitting for development. Last summer, the Biden administration also shut down the Ambler Road access project, which would unlock access to a wealth of critical minerals if only Alaskans were allowed to build it.

The Trump administration’s executive order directs agencies to “prioritize the development of Alaska’s LNG potential,” in reference to the Alaska LNG Project, which is a proposed 807-mile pipeline that could carry 3.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily. The order requires the agencies permitting the project to give “due consideration to the economic and national security benefits” of transporting Alaska LNG to other U.S. states as well as exporting to “allied nations within the Pacific region.” 

The order also rescinds “the cancellation of any leases within [ANWR],” requires the Interior Department to “initiate additional leasing,” and issue permits for “the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas from leases within [ANWR].” The order also rescinds the May 2024 Bureau of Land Management rule that sets aside more than 40% of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), or 10.6 million acres out of 23 million acres, for “special areas.” The NPR-A was set aside in 1923 by President Warren Harding explicitly for energy production.

The executive order also directs the BLM and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review the denial of the Ambler Road in June 2024 due to “alleged legal deficiencies and for consideration of relevant public interests and, as appropriate, conduct a new, comprehensive analysis.” The Ambler Road, a proposed 211-mile-long private access road in Alaska’s Northwest Arctic Borough, leads to a mining district containing significant quantities of zinc, lead, silver, cobalt, and copper. These minerals will be required to power the economy and build the electric vehicles, solar panels, and battery storage needed for a mandated energy transition. The Carter-era Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANICLA) requires that the Interior Department “permit such access,” to the Ambler mining district. Many Alaska Native communities near the project recognize its potential to “reduce the high cost of living” in rural Alaska and bring high-paying jobs.

The order also directs the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) to pause enforcement of a 2001 rule restricting logging and road-building in the Tongass National Forest, which the Biden administration reinstated. When the first Trump administration loosened those restrictions, it opened up only 186,000 more acres to consideration for timber harvesting and only about 50 more miles of new roads—over the next 100 years. This would affect a small area of the 16.7 million acres that comprise the Tongass National Forest.

The Last Frontier isn’t a nature preserve that must be closed off to human access. Alaskans—and the new administration—recognize that it is possible to responsibly conserve and develop natural resources.