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The largest tract of public land in the United States is a wild expanse of tundra and wetlands stretching across of northern Alaska. It's called the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, but despite its industrial-sounding name, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, or NPR-A, is much more than a fuel depot.

Tens of thousands of caribou feed and breed in this area, which is the size of Maine. Migratory birds flock to its lakes in summer, and fish rely on the many rivers that crisscross the region.

The area is also vital for the health of the planet. However, its future is at risk.

The Trump administration announced a plan on June 17, 2025, of this fragile landscape to oil and gas development, including some of its most ecologically sensitive areas. The government is on the plan through July 1.

I am , and I have been studying sensitive ecosystems and the species that depend on them for over 20 years. Disturbing this landscape and its wildlife could lead to consequences that are difficult—if not impossible—to reverse.

What is the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska?

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska was originally by President Warren Harding as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy.

In the 1970s, its management was transferred to the Department of Interior under the . This congressional act requires that, in addition to managing the area for energy development, the secretary of the interior must ensure the "maximum protection" of "any significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, or historical or scenic value."

The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for overseeing the reserve and identifying and protecting areas with important ecological or cultural values—aptly named "special areas."

The Trump administration now plans to expand the amount of land available for drilling in the NPR-A from about to more than 18.5 million acres—including parts of those "special areas"—as part of its effort to increase U.S. oil drilling and reduce regulations on the industry.

I recently worked with scientists and scholars at The Wilderness Society to write a outlining many of the ecological and cultural values found across the reserve.

A refuge for wildlife

The reserve is a sanctuary for many Arctic wildlife, including caribou populations that have experienced in recent years.

The reserve's open tundra provides for three of the four caribou herds on Alaska's North Slope. These herds undertake on Earth. Infrastructure such as roads and industrial activity can disrupt their movement, further harming the populations' health.

The NPR-A is also globally significant for migratory birds. Situated at the northern end of five major flyways, birds come here from all corners of Earth, including all 50 states. of breeding shorebirds anywhere on the planet.

An estimated of Arctic Coastal Plain shorebirds—over 4.5 million birds—. This includes the , the largest loon species in the world, with most of its U.S. breeding population concentrated in the reserve.

Expanding oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska could by disrupting their habitat and adding noise to the landscape.

Many other species also depend on intact ecosystems there.

Polar bears , making it . , which follow caribou herds, also rely on large, connected expanses of undisturbed habitat for . Moose browse along the Colville River, the largest river on the North Slope, while peregrine falcons, gyrfalcons and rough-legged hawks nest on the cliffs above.

A large stretch of the Colville River is currently protected as a special area, but the Trump administration's proposed plan will remove those protections. The special area, critical habitat for caribou and migrating birds, would .

Indigenous communities in the Arctic, particularly the Iñupiat people, also depend on these lands, waters and wildlife for . Their and spiritual practices are deeply intertwined with the health of this ecosystem.

Oil and gas drilling's impact

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is vast, and drilling won't occur across all of it. But oil and gas operations pose far-reaching risks that extend well beyond the drill sites.

Infrastructure like roads, pipelines, airstrips and gravel pads fragment and degrade the landscape. That can alter water flow and the timing of ice melt. It can also disrupt reproduction and migration routes for wildlife that rely on large, connected habitats.

Networks of winter ice roads and the way exploration equipment compacts the land can delay spring and early summer thawing patterns on the landscape. That can upset the normal pattern of meltwater, .

ConocoPhillips' , approved by the Biden administration in 2023 on the eastern side of the reserve, provides some insight into the potential impact: An , later scaled back, included up to 575 miles (925 kilometers) of ice roads for construction, an air strip, more than 300 miles (nearly 485 kilometers) of new pipeline, a processing facility, a gravel mine and barge transportation, in addition to five drilling sites.

Many animals will try to steer clear of noise, light and human activity. Roads and industrial operations can force them to alter their behavior, which can affect their health and how well they can reproduce. Research has shown that caribou mothers with new calves and that this impact does not lessen .

At Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, the largest oilfield in the U.S., decades of oil development have led to pollution, including , and habitat loss, such as flooding and shoreline erosion, extensive permafrost thaw and damage from roads, construction and gravel mining. In short, the footprint of drilling is —it radiates outward, undermining the ecological integrity of the region. Permafrost thaw now even own infrastructure.

Consequences for the climate

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the surrounding Arctic ecosystem also play an outsized role in regulating the global climate.

Vast amounts of climate-warming carbon are currently locked away in the wetlands and permafrost of the tundra, but the Arctic is warming than the global average.

Roads, drilling and development can and cause coastlines to erode, releasing carbon long locked in the soil. In addition, these operations will ultimately add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, further warming the planet.

The period on the White House's plan to open more of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to oil and gas drilling closes at the end of the day on July 1.

The decisions made today will shape the future of the Arctic—and one of the last wild ecosystems in the United States—for generations to come.

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