Tribal nations oppose drilling of 5,000 wells in Wyoming

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Leaders of several tribal nations said a Trump administration decision to permit five oil companies drilling rights in Wyoming will destroy cultural resources, compromise air and water quality and violate existing treaty rights, Native American tribal leaders say.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe said U.S. regulators failed to uphold federal law and fairly consult local tribes when they made their decision, the Casper Star-Tribune reported Tuesday.

The tribe also said the environmental reviews that occurred in conjunction with the project were “deficient,'' according to their recent protests.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued an order Dec. 23 that will allow for year-round drilling on federal leases in Converse County. The order followed completion of a roughly seven-year environmental analysis.

The area carries significant meaning for over a dozen tribes with history in the southern Powder River Basin, the newspaper reported.

Cultural resources, sacred sites and rivers within the area are important for many local tribes. The rivers within the approved project area serve as an important water source for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and other tribes in the Sioux Nation. Multiple treaties grant the tribes rights to the land.

The project would involve construction of up to 5,000 oil and natural gas wells, 1,500 multi-well pads and hundreds of miles of gas and water pipelines in the Powder River Basin. The approval also allows for the construction of roads, electrical lines and other infrastructure on federal leases in the region.

Wyoming lawmakers have expressed substantial support for the Converse County oil and gas project, the newspaper reported. The project expects to bring up to 8,000 jobs and between $18 billion and $28 billion in state and federal revenue.

Feds have first oil lease sale in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. government held its first-ever oil and gas lease sale January 6 for Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an event critics labeled as a bust with major oil companies staying on the sidelines and a state corporation emerging as the main bidder.

The sale, held as scheduled after a judge Tuesday rejected requests by Indigenous and conservation groups to halt the event, garnered bids on half the 22 tracts that were listed as available in the refuge's coastal plain. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which held the sale, said the bids were under review.

The rugged remote area off the Beaufort Sea is considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich'in. Critics of the lease sale say the region is special, providing habitat for wildlife including caribou, polar bears, wolves and birds, and should be off limits to drilling.

Supporters of drilling have viewed development as a way to bolster oil production, generate revenue and create or sustain jobs.

A state corporation, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, was the sale's main bidder. Its executive director, Alan Weitzner, in a statement, said in winning nine tracts, “Alaska preserves the right to responsibly develop its natural resources.''

Members of the state's congressional delegation, in a statement released by the land management agency, lauded the day as momentous. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, on Twitter, called the lease sale “historic for Alaska and tremendous for America.''

“Alaskans have waited two generations for this moment; I stand with them in support of this day,'' he said.

Kate MacGregor, a deputy Interior Department secretary, said the sale marked, in part, the Trump administration's commitment to working “to fulfill the goal of U.S. energy security for decades to come.''

“And when it comes to Arctic national security, today's sale will further demonstrate the United States will have a long-term economic presence,'' she added.

It was not clear heading into the sale what level of interest there would be among companies. A number of banks had announced plans to stop lending to projects in the Arctic, and President-elect Joe Biden has expressed opposition to drilling in the refuge.

While U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason on Tuesday refused to halt the sale, she has yet to rule on underlying lawsuits challenging the adequacy of the environmental review process undertaken by the federal government.

Chad Padgett, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Alaska state director, defended the review process Wednesday as rigorous and disputed critics' claims that the sale had been rushed. He called the sale a success.

The land management agency has said under an “optimistic, aggressive hypothetical scenario” exploration could begin within two years after a lease sale, with production eight years after a sale.

Kara Moriarty, president and CEO of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, said while the sale's results “may not have been as robust as we might have expected, industry still supports future access to this area.”

“Today's sale reflects the brutal economic realities the oil and gas industry continues to face after the unprecedented events of 2020, coupled with ongoing regulatory uncertainty,'' she said in a statement.

Adam Kolton, executive director of Alaska Wilderness League, called the sale “a huge embarrassment'' for Alaska's congressional delegation, which supported the decades-long push to open the coastal plain to drilling, and to President Donald Trump's administration.

“Essentially, the Trump administration had a party, hoped the oil industry would show up, and it didn't,'' he said. Kolton called the sale the “death knell for anybody who's arguing that this is going to be an oil, jobs and revenue bonanza. I mean, they've just been unmasked.”