Alaska has 57 million acres of federally managed public lands referred to as 鈥淒-1鈥 lands, as they were removed from mineral entry under article 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (informally known as ANCSA). These lands are dispersed across the state and located within the Bristol Bay and Copper River watersheds, the Brooks Range, and throughout Southeast Alaska.
D-1 public lands are home to all five species of Pacific salmon, brown and black bears, muskox, Dall sheep, and more. They support countless migratory birds and iconic Alaska species like the Bald Eagle and Spectacled Eider. These lands help to protect the ecological integrity of the region and provide essential habitat corridors along migration routes for birds and large mammals like caribou. These lands also continue to be the traditional hunting and fishing grounds for diverse Alaska Native peoples and remote communities.
D-1 lands also help buffer against the effects of climate change by sequestering carbon and ensuring that ecosystems and wildlife have the best possible conditions to be resilient in a climate-changed future.
探花精选 Alaska joins with Tribal governments, rural communities, regional businesses, and other conservation organizations to protect these important lands from the impacts of industrial development.
What are D-1 lands protections, how are D-1 lands vital to biodiversity, climate change, and Alaska Native communities, and why are 28 million acres on the table right now?
A new push for more oil and gas drilling, mining, and logging threatens irreparable damage to irreplaceable habitats.
Attentive long-distance migrants are following environmental cues better than expected, showing some shorebirds to be surprisingly adaptable.
