H.R. 3067: Arctic Refuge Protection Act

H.R. 3067 does two things, and both are irreversible by design.

First, it repeals Section 20001 of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — the provision that created an oil and gas leasing program inside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That single sentence in a tax bill opened one of the most ecologically sensitive landscapes in North America to industrial development. This bill takes it back.

Second, and more consequentially, the bill designates roughly 1,559,538 acres of the refuge's coastal plain as wilderness under the Wilderness Act. That is not just a policy preference — wilderness designation is the strongest form of federal land protection that exists. It generally bars roads, drilling infrastructure, and large-scale industrial development. And unlike executive orders or agency rules, wilderness designation can only be undone by an act of Congress.

The bill has 101 cosponsors in the House, including one Republican (Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania). It has been referred to the Natural Resources Committee but has not received a hearing. The companion bill exists in the Senate, but in a divided government, the political math is steep.

Support for the bill draws heavily from conservation organizations and Gwich'in Indigenous leaders, who have long argued that the coastal plain — which they call "the Sacred Place Where Life Begins" — is central to their subsistence way of life and cultural identity. Opposition centers on Alaska energy interests and arguments for domestic oil production.