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Special Areas Request For Information

PRESERVING UNIQUE AND SIGNIFICANT AMERICAN PUBLIC LANDS

What is the RFI?

In 2024, the Bureau of Land Management issued a formal Request for Information (RFI) to assess potential changes to Special Areas within America's Arctic. Special Areas are American public lands recognized for their unique biological and/or cultural significance.  

Dozens of environmental groups and Indigenous-led organizations submitted proposals calling on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to implement Congress’ directives from nearly 50 years ago to ensure maximum protection for important lands, waters, and wildlife in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPR-A)-- known as the Western Arctic.

At nearly 23 million acres, it is among the most ecologically intact places on the planet, globally significant for its numerous wildlife species, migratory birds, fish, and marine mammals. Protecting special areas in this incomparable landscape is vital for caribou migration and calving grounds, subsistence resources for Alaska Native North Slope communities, nesting grounds for millions of migratory birds from six continents, and much more.

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A formal Request for Information (RFI) is a process through which the government collects information from scientists and other experts, local communities, and the public-at-large to better evaluate if legislative designations or policies are serving the intended purpose. 

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What have conservation organizations proposed?

The proposals recommend modifying several existing Special Area boundaries to protect and integrate critical cultural and wildlife resources such as caribou, fish, polar bear, and migratory bird habitat, among others. It also recommends several measures to maximize protections, consistent with BLM’s legal mandate under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act. 

The proposals are based on a scientific technical report, which was submitted to underscore the merit of the proposed actions. Two areas were identified as warranting the most urgent prioritization for Special Area protections:

First, safeguarding the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd Migratory Pathways - public lands that are part of the herd’s critical migration corridors and subsistence food security for Iñupiat people’s way of life. Expanding protections to this region would bridge the unprotected gap between the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area and the Colville River Special Area. 

Second, expanding boundaries of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area to provide protection for an important part of the herd’s crucial calving grounds that currently sits outside any existing Special Area.

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