This month Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Administrative Order 360 — a reckless and ill-conceived attempt to gut oversight of natural resources, by automatically approving projects if the state misses review deadlines.
What does this mean for Alaskans?
- Removal of expert opinions on any project the Governor wants fast-tracked.
- An open season for outside industry.
- Arbitrary timelines on projects to prevent input.
All of these outcomes will come at the expense of Alaska’s hunting, fishing, and recreation industries.
Administrative Order 360 directs the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, and Department of Fish and Game to include a “provision for automatic approval if deadlines are not met” in all permits. In plain language: merit, expertise, and public input are thrown out the window in favor of arbitrary deadlines — a loophole that could enable the administration to stall action on permits it wants to approve, guaranteeing passage without review.
Administrative Order 360 also demands a 15% reduction in “regulatory requirements” by Dec. 2026 and a 25% cumulative reduction by the end of 2027. Unsurprisingly, the order offers no examples, parameters, or guidelines for what these reductions would actually target. As Dermot Cole put it: “Perhaps a 25 percent increase in air and water pollution levels would work? Or a 25 percent increase in hazardous chemical spills? Maybe 25 percent of construction workers can stop wearing hardhats?”
This comes on the heels of another troubling revelation: after legislators overrode Dunleavy’s veto of oil tax transparency, Alaskans learned the state collected only $3.1 million in oil tax revenue settlements in 2024, down from $281 million in 2020. In other words, oversight has been steadily dismantled, our revenues gutted, and now the state is poised to give extractive industries a fast-track to development with even less scrutiny.
The order is not about making Alaska “more competitive”, it is a personal gift for a handful of private interests. They undermine our in-state industries, strip away science-based protections, and hand our resources to outside entities — all while Alaskans lose the oversight, transparency, and input we’ve worked for decades to secure.
“Alaskans expect their government to deliver essential services in the most efficient and responsible way possible,” Dunleavy said in a written statement. We couldn’t agree more — but the idea that either of these orders will achieve that is insulting at best.
Why It Matters for Salmon & Communities
Administrative Order 360 isn’t about competitiveness, but rather the removal of checks that Alaskans have worked for decades to place on our own government, to protect against the exploitation of our resources from outside entities. Cloaked in language about “ensuring Alaskans have the freedom to do business, innovate, and pursue opportunities,” Administrative Order 360 does the exact opposite: it hands Alaska to outside oil, mining, and cruise companies on a golden platter while nullifying protections for recreation, fishing, and hunting.