The waters, wildlife, and communities of Cook Inlet | Tikahtnu stand at a crossroads. Over the next seven years, Lower Cook Inlet faces twelve separate offshore oil and gas lease sales—a relentless series of industrial expansions that could permanently transform one of the most ecologically rich and culturally significant regions in the state. These sales represent one of the most aggressive pushes for offshore drilling that Lower Cook Inlet has ever seen.
At the same time, federal agencies and elected leaders are cutting Alaskans out of the process. Public hearings are disappearing. Environmental reviews are being bypassed. And entire stretches of Alaska’s public waters are being handed to the fossil fuel industry with fewer safeguards than ever before.
This is the moment when Alaskans must speak up, or this place where we live, work, and play will be unrecognizable—the future of Tikahtnu depends on it.
Lease Sale 258: The Flashpoint
Lease Sale 258 has become a symbol of everything wrong with this rush to drill.
In 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved Lease Sale 258 without fully considering some of the most critical risks to Cook Inlet. The agency failed to meaningfully analyze cumulative harm to Cook Inlet belugas, ignored the growing body of science on vessel noise, and sidestepped alternatives that would have reduced the overall footprint of drilling. Cook Inletkeeper—along with community and national partners—challenged that approval in court, and won in 2024.
The court agreed that BOEM had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), ordered the agency to conduct a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, and suspended Hilcorp’s lease while the review remains underway.
BOEM is now preparing the supplemental review to be finalized by the end of the year without releasing a draft for public comment, without holding public hearings, and without giving tribes, communities, or stakeholders any opportunity to weigh in.
Since the completion of the last EIS in 2022 there is vital new information that should be considered– new research on Cook Inlet belugas, new industrial developments like the Johnson Tract mine that need to be accounted for in reviewing cumulative impacts, incidental take permits that have been both approved and requests, and of course Hilcorp’s abysmal track record which has continued to decline in the intervening three years.
Cutting the public out of the process sets a dangerous precedent. It puts Cook Inlet | Tikahtnu at risk. And it undermines the very purpose of NEPA, which is to ensure that decisions about our shared environment are transparent, science-based, and publicly accountable.
Lease Sale 258 is a litmus test of how much BOEM can get away with before the public reacts to the upcoming eleven lease sales scheduled for the next seven years. This is only the prequel.
The “Big “Beautiful” Cook Inlet (BBC1) : Six Mandatory Lease Sales
In July, Congress passed the Big Beautiful Bill Act, a section of which requires BOEM to hold at least six offshore oil and gas lease sales in Alaska, one each year from 2026 to 2028, and again from 2030 to 2032. Big Beautiful Cook Inlet 1 (BBC1) is the first of these required lease sales and is set to take place March 2026.
Because these sales have Congressional approval the government’s position is that they do not require NEPA Environmental Impact Statement, or public hearing. All that the government is offering is a 60-day restricted comment period for the governor and affected local governments that has conveniently been scheduled to fall across the end of year holidays and is due immediately after the new year on January 9th. After considering required input from the governor and affected local governments on size, timing and location, BOEM finalizes terms and issues a Final Notice of Sale ahead of bid opening.
A New Five-Year OCS Plan: Five More Sales, Expanded Boundaries
On November 20th the Secretary of the Interior announced the first draft of 11th Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 5-year plan—which includes five additional lease sales in Lower Cook Inlet from 2027–2031. These sales stretch across 5 million acres opening up areas of Alaska that have never been subjected to such industrial pressure.
There is a long history of Alaskans opposing leases in Lower Cook Inlet, dating back to the state buybacks in Kachemak Bay in the 1970’s. Lease Sale 258, in Lower Cook Inlet, received 93,000 public comments, 99.98% of which were in opposition, yet here we are once again and this time they don’t care to listen. Lease sales are harmful to our communities, to our tourism and fishing economies, and to all Alaskans that depend on clean water and healthy salmon.
Here with the proposed five year plan we finally have an opportunity for public comment, BOEM will be accepting comments on the draft until January 23rd, 2026. The choice to hold these comment periods over the holidays is a calculated attempt to further diminish public participation. Nothing could more clearly demonstrate BOEM’s lack of commitment to the wellbeing of the local people whose lives will be impacted by its decision making.
Now is the time for Alaskans and Americans to speak up for our energy future.
The Dirty Dozen
This attack on Cook Inlet is happening fast:
- 1 sale (Lease Sale 258) with no public input on the Supplemental EIS
- 6 mandated sales from the “Big Beautiful Bill,” on which the government is refusing to conduct NEPA review
- 5 additional sales in the new 5-year plan, with only limited comment opportunities
That’s twelve separate chances for oil and gas companies to carve up Cook Inlet—while the public’s ability to participate shrinks at every step.
This pile-up of overlapping lease authorities represents an unprecedented threat to Cook Inlet fisheries, subsistence resources, wildlife, and the coastal communities that rely on them. Industrializing Cook Inlet at this scale would permanently reshape the region for generations.
Meanwhile, Alaskans continue to feel the squeeze. Our PFD keeps shrinking. Schools close. Healthcare and food costs rise. And yet, major corporations operating in Alaska—including Hilcorp—pay no state income tax under Alaska’s current tax structure.
For years, before Hilcorp bought BP’s Alaska operations in 2020, the state received billions in oil and gas revenues annually. Those days are gone. Meanwhile, the same companies benefiting from Cook Inlet drilling have contributed tens of millions of dollars to national political campaigns.
It’s fair for Alaskans to ask: Why are our public waters being auctioned off while our public services wither?
Take Action
Demand that BOEM restore public hearings and comment periods for Lease Sale 258. This is the most immediate way to insist on transparency and public rights, we need your signature by December 15th.
- Submit a comment on the 5-year OCS plan before January 23
Comments can be submitted virtually, which is the preferred Method: Regulations.gov (Docket ID: BOEM-2025-0483) to submit comments and view other comments; or in writing and mailed in an envelope labeled “Comments for the 11th National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program.” Addressed to Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (VAM-LD) 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166-9216
- Join Cook Inletkeeper
Your voice matters—and so does your support. If you are able, make a donation today to power community organizing, legal action, and on-the-ground advocacy; Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed and receive action alerts to stay informed of the rapidly evolving issue and; follow us on Facebook and Instagram so you never miss an update, a victory, or a call to action. As we fight for transparency, defend our public waters, and push back against rushed federal leasing, we rely on people like you to keep this work alive.