Izembek and Arctic news—the State and feds dig in
By Dawnell Smith The ongoing effort to undermine the integrity of protected public...
16 September, 2026
Litigation 101: What’s an integrated activity plan and how does it play into Interior’s proposed rule to rubber stamp Big Oil projects like Willow in the Arctic?
By Dawnell Smith Federal agencies use general management plans and review processes to...
16 June, 2026
Taking the Willow project to court. Again.
Five days after a U.S. Federal District Court ruling gave ConocoPhillips the...
14 November, 2023
Quick guide to speaking out for the Arctic Refuge and Reserve
Here's a quick guide to help you speak up for the Arctic...
17 October, 2023
Do Interior’s latest actions mean the Arctic is finally protected? Not yet. The devil is in the details.
The Biden administration did several things earlier this month that could lead...
15 September, 2023
A month in the life of protecting the Arctic
We won in court and are still in court to protect Alaska's...
18 August, 2023
Litigation 101: What’s a motion for a preliminary injunction and how did ours play out in our Willow litigation?
Motions can ask the judge to do an array of things, like...
14 April, 2023
BREAKING: Biden administration approves Willow project, locking in massive greenhouse gases for decades
The Biden administration approved the ConocoPhillips’ Willow project today, locking in oil...
13 March, 2023
Alaska News Brief February 2023. I’m still shoveling. Let the celebration begin!
Here we are, well into Alaska’s notorious faux spring, where we’re so...
17 February, 2023
The Arctic on the precipice
By Dawnell Smith Alaska faces serious climate impacts, pollution concerns, and industrial pressures....
17 August, 2022
Litigation 101: What is a supplemental environmental impact statement and why is the one for the ConocoPhillips Willow proposal so dodgy?
By Dawnell Smith Agencies produce environmental impact statements to analyze and assess the...
14 July, 2022
Dear President: You can’t kick the climate can down the road. It’s time to stop the massive ConocoPhillips Willow oil and gas proposal.
By Dawnell Smith The U.S. Bureau of Land Management released a draft supplemental...
14 July, 2022
An Arctic update: Restored protections, a methane leak, a looming threat
Western Arctic Alaska basks in endless sunlight these days, with caribou and...
18 May, 2022
Climate action in the western Arctic
The Biden administration announced in January 2022 that it intends to reverse...
21 January, 2022
Moving the needle on climate action and Arctic health
August brought good news for the Arctic and planet when a federal...
15 September, 2021
Alaska News Brief July 2021: On finding happiness (and social skills)
I visited my family in the Lower 48 last month, and wow,...
14 July, 2021
Calling out the ConocoPhillips’ Willow carbon bomb in court
We were in court calling out an illegal Trump-era approval of the...
12 July, 2021
The good news, and the bad, for Alaska’s Arctic
While the Biden administration promises climate action and clean energy, and Alaska’s...
15 June, 2021
Biden administration undermines climate promises
The Biden administration confirmed through legal briefs filed in court May 26...
27 May, 2021
Our 2021 view of the lawsuits and issues
Things look far rosier now than a year ago when it comes...
16 March, 2021
Shining light on the Arctic
Despite four years of intense arm-twisting by political players and industry insiders...
17 February, 2021
Court stops massive Willow oil project in western Arctic
We got good news when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted...
17 February, 2021
We just sued Interior for illegal, premature approval of massive Arctic oil and gas project
We’re taking the Interior Department, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and U.S....
18 November, 2020
A rundown on our August lawsuits
Our August lawsuits charge Interior and federal agencies with derailing public input,...
28 August, 2020
Lawsuit calls out illegal plan to sell off the nation’s largest public land
We went to court again—the second time this week--charging the U.S. Bureau...
25 August, 2020
Alaska News Brief July 2020: Look for the light
I'm packing right now for a trip to McNeil River next week....
21 July, 2020
Trump’s plan to wreck the Arctic
Trump agencies have become conveyor belts for moving public lands into industry...
17 July, 2020
Defending the Arctic in court
Our lawyers called out the illegal and destructive sell-off of Arctic lands...
07 February, 2020
Alaska Brief–January 2020
I started at Trustees in 1994 as an intern working on Cook Inlet...
28 January, 2020
Support the Western Arctic now!
Speak up now to keep and expand protected areas in the National...
17 January, 2020