Sponsors (23)
The bill permanently protects ~1.56 million acres of the ANWR coastal plain—safeguarding habitat, subsistence resources, and tourism value—while foregoing potential oil and gas development, related revenues and jobs, and imposing some access restrictions on local subsistence users.
Residents (including Indigenous and rural communities) and visitors gain permanent protection of ~1.56 million acres of the ANWR coastal plain as designated wilderness, preserving habitat, wildlife, subsistence resources, and recreation opportunities.
Alaska communities that rely on tourism and outdoor recreation retain scenic and ecological values that support local recreation-based economies and related jobs.
Energy and mineral companies and related workers lose access to ~1.56 million acres, preventing potential oil and gas development and associated jobs; federal and state governments forgo potential lease and royalty revenues that would have supported budgets and local services.
Some local residents and subsistence users—particularly Indigenous communities—may face new restrictions on motorized access or infrastructure improvements, which could limit travel and traditional subsistence activities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Designates about 1,559,538 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain as wilderness, adding it to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Introduced April 29, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress April 29, 2025
Designates about 1,559,538 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain in Alaska as wilderness and adds that area to the National Wilderness Preservation System. The designated area is defined by a specific October 20, 2015 map (Map ID 03–0172) kept in the Secretary’s offices and is named the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Coastal Plain Proposed Wilderness. The designation imposes the protections and restrictions of the Wilderness Act on the mapped coastal-plain acreage, superseding other refuge statutes where needed to create an explicit wilderness unit; it does not appropriate funds or create new agency programs in the text provided.