"The partisan divide over natural resource protections took a hard shift to the right with the inauguration of President Trump, who reversed moves the Biden administration took to protect natural resources in Alaska from mining and energy development and hunting bears with baits.
With an executive order the Republican granted most, if not all, of the requests made by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy made in December, removing a block on a 211-mile road through wilderness and parts of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve to reach a copper deposit at Ambler; reversing a National Park Service ban on baiting of bears to bring them within range of hunters; opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oilfield development, and; moving to remove the roadless rule that blocks roads from being built in areas of the Tongas National Forest, among other reversals.
"The State of Alaska holds an abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources including, among others, energy, mineral, timber, and seafood," Trump wrote in the order signed Monday. "Unlocking this bounty of natural wealth will raise the prosperity of our citizens while helping to enhance our nation’s economic and national security for generations to come."
Kurt Repanshek reports for the National Parks Traveler January 21, 2025.
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