Oil and Gas Lease Sale in the Arctic Refuge Flops—Again
June 5, 2026
Whitehorse, Yukon – For the third time in a row, the U.S. government-backed oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic Refuge—home to the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd—has been an utter flop. The sale, which closed out today shortly before 11 AKDT (12 PT), received only a paltry nine offers from two bidders, who vied for only five of 58 parcels of land among the 700,000 acres of pristine, environmentally invaluable land offered on offer within the Coastal Plains of the Refuge. Today’s sale raised only USD$ 3.7 million—a dismal 0.2 percent of the USD $1.8 billion the Administration has previously projected the leasing program would generate.
This embarrassingly low turn-out marks the third such fiscally unsuccessful attempt by the Trump Administration, which has been pursuing an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic Refuge in open defiance of the rights and will of the Gwich’in people, the concerns of environmentalists, and the expertise of scientists, Traditional Knowledge Holders, and economists since 2017.
CPAWS Yukon is deeply disappointed to see this lease sale proceed, as it was conducted against the express wishes of the Gwich’in, Canadians, and environmentalists around the world. The decision of the U.S. government to proceed with this lease sale represents a direct attack on the health and well-being of the Arctic Refuge, the Porcupine Caribou Herd, the sovereignty and culture of the Gwich’in people, and openly disrespects Canadians as a whole, being in violation of U.S. diplomatic and treaty obligations to Canada.
Incensed by these injustices, Yukoners have submitted a petition to the Government of Canada to take all necessary steps to support the Gwich’in in protecting the sacred calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd and to uphold Canada’s commitments under international and Canadian law, as well as the will of the Yukon people. This petition is slated to be presented on Parliament Hill by the Honourable Dr. Brendan Hanley, Member of Parliament for the Yukon and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs.
While CPAWS Yukon is pleased to see the Trump Administration’s misguided plan to sell off the Coastal Plains once again fall flat on its face, we are worried for the future of the Arctic Refuge and the Porcupine Caribou Herd. We stand alongside the Gwich’in in asserting that the only acceptable development in the Arctic Refuge is no development. We will continue to work alongside Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, the Gwich’in Steering Committee, and our international environmentalist allies at the Arctic Defense Campaign (ADC) to defend this special place.
“Given this frankly pathetic response from industry—which seems to clearly recognize drilling in the Arctic Refuge is simply bad business—we at CPAWS Yukon are beginning to wonder when the Trump Administration will give up on its disastrously unpopular, environmentally irresponsible, and economically unsound plan to sell off this ecologically sensitive, culturally irreplicable place in the name of greed, power, and self-interest.”
–Laurence Fox, Conservation Coordinator, CPAWS Yukon
Contact
Laurence Fox, Conservation Coordinator, CPAWS Yukon
lfox@cpawsyukon.org | 867-393-8080 x3