Freedom and fairness return to Alaska federal land policy

At long last, some sanity is returning to federal land policy in Alaska. Last Thursday, the US Senate voted 52–45 to overturn one of the Biden administration’s most damaging assaults on Alaska’s economy: the Bureau of Land Management’s 2022 rule that locked away vast swaths of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

This is a decisive moment and a message to Washington bureaucrats that Alaska will not be treated like a national park for the environmental elite. Senator Dan Sullivan deserves enormous credit for forcing this issue to the floor and for persuading even Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania to cross party lines and vote with common sense.

The National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska isn’t just any patch of tundra; it’s a 23-million-acre area originally set aside for energy production in the national interest.

Congress reaffirmed that mission nearly 50 years ago when it ordered the federal government to carry out “an expeditious program of competitive leasing.” But under President Joe Biden, the word “expeditious” vanished from the government’s vocabulary. His 2022 Integrated Activity Plan slammed the door on development across roughly half the reserve, or  up to 13 million acres, under the guise of protecting wildlife and advancing “climate goals.” The move crippled job creation, froze investment, and betrayed Alaska Native communities who depend on resource revenue for schools, clinics, and infrastructure.

By invoking the Congressional Review Act, Sullivan used one of the few tools available to rein in federal overreach. His resolution, co-authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, if also passed by the House and signed by President Donald Trump, will nullify Biden’s rule and bar any future administration from re-imposing a similar one without new congressional approval.

This isn’t just a win for Alaska. It’s a reaffirmation that energy security and economic opportunity still matter. The resolution reopens the door for responsible oil, gas, and critical-mineral development, with projects that could create tens of thousands of jobs and help the United States compete with China for the materials that power our defense and technology sectors.

Sen. Sullivan has documented more than 70 separate executive actions by the Biden administration that specifically targeted Alaska’s land, water, and resource industries. Each one chipped away at livelihoods and local sovereignty, from canceled leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to blocked roads and stalled Native veteran land selections. The NPR-A rule was the worst of them all, the keystone in a deliberate campaign to “lock up” the state’s potential. Thursday’s vote is a long-overdue rebuke of that strategy. It says that Alaska is not a colony to be managed from afar, but a partner in the nation’s energy future.

Congressman Nick Begich’s companion bill in the House is expected to move soon. If the measure clears both chambers, President Trump’s signature will seal the deal. Then the focus must shift to rebuilding what was lost, including restarting lease sales, advancing infrastructure like the Alaska LNG pipeline, and giving rural communities a fair chance to prosper.

Alaskans have waited years for Washington to get out of the way. The Senate’s vote to overturn Biden’s NPR-A blockade is more than a policy win. This is a moral victory. It restores the promise that Alaska’s vast resources will serve the people who live here and strengthen the nation they help power. Alaska is open for business again!

Suzanne Downing is editor of The Alaska Story, founded in 2025.