Judge declines to block 1.4 million-acre Alaska land transfer

Alaska keeps its claim to 1.4 million acres of federal land for now. US District Judge Aaron Peterson dismissed portions of a lawsuit challenging the conveyance and denied a request for a preliminary injunction.

The ruling, reported July 28 by Bloomberg Law, narrows but does not end a case brought by 10 environmental groups. The groups challenge a proposed transfer of about 2.1 million acres to the state. The Interior Department tentatively approved 1.4 million acres of that total in May. The department says that approval moves Alaska past 96% of its statehood land entitlement. The remaining 700,000 acres have no tentative approval.

The groups contend the transfer strips federal protections and opens the region to the proposed 211-mile Ambler Access Project and to Alaska LNG development.