Feds Transfer More than 1 Million Acres of Public Lands to Alaska

Back in the March, Field & Stream reported on a Public Land Order that removed protections from Alaska’s famed Dalton Highway—a vast swath of federally managed public land known for caribou hunting and prime access to wilderness fishing. In addition to clearing a path for increased development, the PLO declared the lands eligible for state transfer. Yesterday, the Department of the Interior fulfilled its promise, announcing in a press release that it has officially conveyed 1.4 million acres of BLM lands along the Dalton Highway to Alaska.

“This transfer comes after Public Land Order No. 7966 opened approximately 2.1 million acres of lands within the corridor for selection under the Alaska Statehood Act and to location and entry under public land and mining laws,” the press release reads. “That February 2026 opening order allowed ‘top filed’ land (i.e., land previously unavailable for state selection but which Alaska sought to acquire) to become valid state selections available for conveyance.”

The CRA Played a Role

Congress paved the way for the recent transfer when it used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn a Resource Management Plan for the lands along the Dalton back in October 2025. It’s the same legislative maneuver that the House and Senate used to strip protections from the Boundary Waters late last month, opening the door for a large-scale Chilean copper mine immediately upstream of the famed wilderness area. Utah Senator Mike Lee is also using the CRA in an attempt to overturn protections for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in his home state.

The Nixon Administration protected the acreage along the Dalton in the 1970s when it issued PLOs 5150 and 5180, and the BLM has managed the 244-mile corridor ever since. The Dalton borders the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge to the south, the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge to the East, and both the Gates of the Arctic National Park the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) at its northern terminus.

The 5-mile corridor immediately beyond the Dalton is famous for its archery-only caribou hunts. Hunters and anglers who venture beyond the archery buffer zone find more rugged hunts for caribou and trophy bull moose. The road is also a popular jumping off point for wilderness fishing excursions for coveted sportfish like Dolly Varden and Arctic grayling.

Ambler Road Worries

Handing over BLM land along the Dalton Highway to the state of Alaska could also expedite construction of the long-contested Ambler Road. This private industrial mine road would extend 211 miles through the heart of the Brooks Range, providing foreign mining company’s constant access to mineral deposits on the range’s southern end. A coalition of hunting and angling groups called Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range (HABR) has long opposed the project on grounds that it will disrupt caribou migration patterns and require more than 2,900 stream culverts, among other concerns. HABR is made up of 102 brands and conservation partners like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and Trout Unlimited.

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“This decisive action puts Alaska at the forefront of American Energy Dominance,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in the March 6 press release. “President Trump is delivering on his commitment to unleash Alaska’s vast resources—advancing the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas project, the Ambler Road, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline—to strengthen our economy, bolster national security, and drive down costs for American families.”

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