Alaska is challenging the 2020 Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) decision that found land in dispute at the northwestern boundary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge belongs to the federal government and not the state of Alaska. In 2016, the Bureau of Land Management denied the State’s request for land conveyance, which, if granted, would have recognized the state’s ownership of the land.
Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor said:
“At stake is approximately 20,000 acres of public land, which has important implications for oil and gas development on the eastern North Slope. Alaska is just asking BLM to give back what is rightfully the State’s.”
Alaska argues that the BLM incorrectly surveyed ANWR’s western boundary. The legal boundary of the refuge is described as the Canning River, but the maps provided by the federal agency put the boundary several miles to the west, at the Staines River.
Public Land Order 2214, which established the northwestern boundary of ANWR, describes the boundary as extending from Brownlow Point southwesterly to the extreme west bank of the Canning River. IBLA, however, found that the intent of the public land order was that the boundary follow the extreme west bank of the Canning River to an undescribed point, then climb a nine-foot embankment, then cross over ten miles of open tundra, and then, finally, follow the west bank of the Staines River to its mouth, according to a press release.
Taylor stated:
“IBLA’s view of the ‘intent’ of boundary location is strained at best. Had BLM properly recognized the boundary of the refuge as the Canning River, the State would have received the disputed acres by operation of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.”
Alaska appealed to the IBLA following the initial 2016 decision. A decision was made in favor of the BLM in November 2020, and Alaska is now pursuing an appeal in federal district court.