Deadline to Comment to Dept of Interior on Oil/Gas Leasing in Western Arctic

Deadline to Comment to Dept of Interior on Oil/Gas Leasing in Western Arctic is Nov 21st, but midnight in Alaska occurs very early on the next day in SD (Nov 22nd)

• The Nov 21, 2025 deadline is for the NPR-A (Western Arctic) Call for Nominations & Comments. This is the western Arctic not just ANWR specifically. See the Federal Register notice (Oct 22, 2025) with the submission methods and address/email. GovInfo

• BLM’s Alaska lease-sales hub also lists the Nov 21 close date and provides how-to instructions and maps/forms. Bureau of Land Management

• PLEASE NOTICE IF DEADLINES ARE MIDNIGHT ALASKA TIME, THEY ARE 2 HOURS LATER THAN MOUNTAIN TIME, SO FOR LOWER 48 THE DEADLINE MAY BE VERY EARLY ON 22ND.

Direct “how to comment” (copy-ready for your calendar)

Mail: State Director, BLM Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th Ave #13, Anchorage, AK 99513-7504
Email: BLM_AKSO_AK932_AKLeasesales@blm.gov

We are not sure of the exact “cut-off” time for comments.  We are assuming it is just before midnight Alaska time, rather than before midnight EST. That Alaska time zone deadline, would translate to just before 2 am in  Mountain Time Zone on the 22nd..

The plan by the current (second) Trump administration is to permit/advance drilling in the ANWR coastal plain. It’s already built on a prior legislative foundation and previous administration actions. The key steps ahead will involve lease sales, environmental reviews, possible litigation, and then if development goes forward, monitoring of wildlife/hunting impacts.

• The Coastal Plain area (approx. 1.56 million acres) of ANWR is being reopened for oil & gas leasing under the current administration’s directive. Earthjustice+1

• The comment period gives stakeholders—conservation groups, indigenous communities, hunters, wildlife researchers, and the public—the opportunity to influence which tracts are offered and how mitigating conditions may be structured.

EASY COMMENTING:
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• Earthjustice: They issued an alert titled “The Trump Administration Opens the Entire Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Oil and Gas Leasing” (Oct 23 2025). Earthjustice+2Earthjustice+2

•  Specific Earthjustice Alert with pre-fab comment letter :     https://earthjustice.org/action/the-western-arctic-is-under-threat-protect-one-of-the-most-important-ecosystems-on-earth?ms=web

• The National Audubon Society  article:  https://www.audubon.org/conservation/arctic-ocean-future-peril#:~:text=Given%20the%20difficulty%20of%20accessing,policy%20work%20in%20the%20Arctic.
• Protect the Arctic – “Take Action to Protect America’s Arctic”
  Link: https://www.protectthearctic.org/i-can-help
• Environment America – “Chevron: Don’t drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge”
  Link: https://environmentamerica.org/articles/chevron-dont-drill-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/
• Enviros Against War – Alert regarding the Arctic lease sales
  Link: https://www.envirosagainstwar.org/act/alerts.php

What is happening

The plan by the current (second) Trump administration is to permit/advance drilling in the ANWR coastal plain. It’s already built on a prior legislative foundation and previous administration actions. The key steps ahead will involve lease sales, environmental reviews, possible litigation, and then if development goes forward, monitoring of wildlife/hunting impacts.

• The 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) included a provision that required at least two oil and gas lease sales in the “coastal plain” (also called the “1002 area”) of ANWR (about 1.57 million acres). The Wilderness Society+3Congress.gov+3Congress.gov+3

• The Donald Trump (first) administration in August 2020 issued final approval to open the ANWR coastal plain to drilling. The Washington Post+2The Wilderness Society+2

• A lease sale was held in January 2021 (near the end of the first Trump term), which resulted in nine leases—but industry participation was weak, and none has yet progressed to full development. Congress.gov+1

• Under the (then) Joe Biden administration, these leases were suspended (June 2021) and cancelled (September 2023) based on legal and environmental review concerns. Wikipedia+1

• In the more recent (second) Trump-era policy shift (starting January 2025), the administration via Doug Burgum as Interior Secretary announced that the entire 1.56-million-acre coastal plain would be reopened to leasing. Alaska Beacon+2U.S. Department of the Interior+2

• According to a Congressional Research Service summary, a district court decision in March 2025 vacated the earlier lease cancellations, giving a legal basis to restart the program. Congress.gov

Why this matters (for wildlife)

• The ANWR coastal plain is biologically rich: it supports the Porcupine Caribou Herd migration, denning polar bears, and important bird-migratory habitat. Congress.gov+1

• Opening the area to drilling affects not just industrial footprint, but access, infrastructure (roads, pipelines), and potential disturbance of habitat. This ties directly to hunting, harvest data, and wildlife monitoring .

• Current status & next steps

  • The entire 1.56 million acre coastal plain is again open to leasing. Alaska Beacon

  • As of now, it’s a leasing program; actual drilling/exploration would still require further approvals (environmental analysis, infrastructure permits, etc.).

  • Legal challenges are likely, since conservation groups and Indigenous groups continue to oppose. The Washington Post+1

  • Industry still shows some caution: high costs in remote Arctic environment, uncertain oil price outlook, infrastructure challenges. Wikipedia+1