Trump repeals Biden land protections in Alaska, other states

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Dec 11 signed several congressional measures designed to undo Biden administration land conservation policies restricting energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and federal lands in three Western states.

The measures were advanced under the Congressional Review Act, which enables Congress to invalidate recently imposed policies under expedited procedures.

Mr Trump, as he did in his first term, has championed fossil fuels and the industries that produce them as essential to his goals of bolstering the US as an energy producer as well as lowering prices for consumers.

At the same time, he has scrapped or diluted initiatives designed to combat climate change, promote green energy and protect habitats.

The territory in Alaska is part of the coastal plain of the wildlife refuge. Federal lands in Wyoming, North Dakota as well as the Central Yukon in Alaska are also affected.

Conservationists and tribal groups quickly condemned the resolutions, which were announced by the White House.

The National Wildlife Federation called Mr Trump’s move “a direct attack on public input, science, and responsible stewardship of public lands, wildlife, water, indigenous communities and rural economies”.

The Brooks Range Coalition in Alaska said in a statement that the end of the land management plan in the Central Yukon “leaves Alaska’s rural communities, hunters and tribal governments with fewer protections at a time when climate change and resource pressures are rapidly intensifying.” BLOOMBERG