ELR Citation: 56 ELR 20009
No(s). 3:25-cv-00356-SLG (D. Alaska Jan 27, 2026) (Gleason, J.)

A district court denied Indigenous and environmental groups' motion for preliminary injunction in a challenge to BLM approval of an oil company's request to conduct an exploration program that involves drilling four wells and conducting a seismic survey at specified locations in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The groups argued BLM violated the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act's directive to assure adequate mitigation and maximum protection, because the measures it approved to mitigate impacts on vegetation were ineffective. The court found BLM conducted a reasonably thorough analysis of the program impacts on tundra in the project area on various types of vegetation, and that the groups failed to show that they had a likelihood of success on the merits. It denied the groups' motion.