Kaktovik, Alaska – The release of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision by the US Bureau of Land Management has left the community of Kaktovik, Alaska – the only village located in the area – frustrated and discontented. The lands under question are the traditional lands of the Kaktovikmiut, however, it is apparent once again that outside wellfunded environmental groups have had the preferential voice during the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) process.

The Biden Administration under Department of Interior Secretary Haaland has sided with groups that have turned the SEIS process into a proverbial circus while stonewalling those who stand to be most affected by the decision. Kaktovik does not support this outcome nor condone the process by which it was reached.

“The decision has been a predetermined outcome from the beginning,” said Edward Rexford, Sr., president of the Native Village of Kaktovik. “As a small tribal entity and a cooperating agency, we were never afforded adequate opportunity to fully participate in the overall SEIS and on several occasions, were excluded altogether. We were not provided with the opportunity to review the Final SEIS where the Preferred Alternate D2 was first introduced. Our Tribe continues to support Alternative B from the 2020 Environmental Impact Statement. We oppose this 2024 Record of Decision (ROD) and its flawed outcome. No part of this ROD reflects our input. We do not have the financial resources nor an entity like the Native American Rights Fund to represent us like the communities to the south of our lands. This whole process was set up to pit one native group against the other and the one with the most outside funding won. We are completely disheartened by how we were treated by the Department of Interior under Secretary Haaland throughout the process. It is astonishing to us that the voices of those who own and live on the Coastal Plain land at the heart of this decision were not fully considered. To redefine our homelands at the request of other tribal groups is beyond comprehension to us and should not even be considered within the scope of the ROD. The Department of Interior should be ashamed of themselves!”

Charles Lampe, president of Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation, agrees. “Throughout every step of the SEIS we have had to fight for our legal rights provided to us through three acts of Congress: The 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act; the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Our economic freedom as promised to us under these laws has been swept under the carpet by Secretary Haaland, who has allowed for cultural trespass and for the Gwich’in to subsume rights over our homelands. The process has not followed the law, and we will continue to fight for our rights! Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation opposes Alternative D2 as presented in the Record of Decision because it does not meet the intent of the law under Section 20001 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”

“The City of Kaktovik is outraged by this result,” said Mayor Nathan Gordon, Jr. “As a small community with a population of 300 people, we may be unable to participate to the extent of outside stakeholders, but we know our rights under the law. We continue to struggle with how this decision was made and the fact that it goes against the intent of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. How could four pages of simple language be so misconstrued? The law was simple, but it has been distorted through this decision. As the mayor, we need economic development for our community – we have been shuttered away for more than 40 years through various acts of Congress. We recognize this decision is about an animal, the caribou, but we are the people who live here. This decision makes it clear, once again, that we cannot compete with outside environmental organizations when it comes to important decisions made about our land and our people. This is a human rights issue and not an animal rights issue.”

Native Village of Kaktovik PO Box 52 Kaktovik, AK 99747 907.640.2042

Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation PO Box 73 Kaktovik, AK 99747 907.640.6120

City of Kaktovik PO Box 27 Kaktovik, AK 99747 907.640.6313

  biden, coastal plains, gas, kaktovik, land, lease, native, oil