US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed into effect Jan. 4 a major land management change for the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, a long-anticipated action to open areas along the northern coast of the reserve to leasing. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now The move take place two weeks before incoming President-Elect Joe Biden takes office, on Jan. 20. Geologists have long considered the coastal area of the reserve to have very high potential for discoveries because it is along the Barrow Arch, a broad geological feature across northern Alaska where major oil discoveries have made further east, in the Prudhoe Bay area. However, the area is also ecologically sensitive habitat, particularly for waterfowl and caribou. These areas were closed to drilling by former Interior Secretary […]