Gwich’in and allied groups sue Trump for illegal lease program in Arctic Refuge
On August 24, 2020 Trustees for Alaska filed a lawsuit against recent Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program decisions.
Some key notes included below:
- Plaintiffs: Gwich’in Steering Committee, Alaska Wilderness League, Alaska Wildlife Alliance, CPAWS Yukon, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental America, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, National Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and Wilderness Watch.
- Defendants: Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
- The lawsuit charges the defendants failed to comply with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Wilderness Act and Administrative Procedure Act in completing the Environmental Impact Statement process, signing the Record of Decision and issuing the Biological Opinion.
- Plaintiffs bring this action to invalidate BLM’s unlawful Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record Of Decision, BLM’s ANILCA Section 810 Final Evaluation, and FWS’s deficient Biological Opinion, and any related or subsequent decisions based on those documents.
- Full complaint is available here.