JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Interior Department has issued a decision to limit roughly half the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to oil and gas leasing, rolling back a Trump-era policy criticized by conservationists that would have vastly expanded lands available for potential development.
The plan would prevent oil and gas development in areas considered important for sensitive bird populations and the Teshekpuk and Western Arctic caribou herds, the decision dated Monday states.
Alaska’s U.