Trump administration plans to hold sale in violation of Endangered Species Act, putting extremely vulnerable Cook Inlet beluga whales at risk
Anchorage, AK — A federally recognized Alaska Native Tribal Nation, along with several community and environmental health and justice groups notified Interior Secretary Doug Burgum today of their intent to sue the Interior Department and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) over a planned March 4 offshore oil-and-gas lease sale in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
The groups assert that the Trump administration failed to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to evaluate the possible impacts of the oil-and-gas auction on the critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale, as well as the northern sea otter, Steller’s eider, and other species protected under federal law. Given the harms the offshore sale could cause, including oil spills, noise pollution, vessel strikes, and climate impacts, this legal violation could push the Inlet beluga whale species even closer to extinction.
Earthjustice and partners submitted the letter on behalf of Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, Cook Inletkeeper, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Center for Biological Diversity, and Natural Resources Defense Council.
“We have a responsibility to steward the vital resources of Alaska for the future guided by respect, traditional knowledge, modern science, and the legally required proper environmental reviews to ensure that our generation is not the one that wipes out an entire species,” said Traditional Chief Gary Harrison of Chickaloon.
“Pushing forward with yet another offshore lease sale without updated environmental review or required consultation under the Endangered Species Act is reckless,” said Loren Barrett Co-Executive Director, Cook Inletkeeper. “This continued effort to force “development” that is neither sought by industry nor supported by the public needlessly puts at risk the critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale and other protected species that simply cannot withstand additional harm. Expanding offshore drilling in Cook Inlet | Tikahtnu threatens wildlife, food security, and our already robust coastal economies that depend on a healthy Inlet.”
“We are taking legal action to prevent this Administration from selling off our public waters and precious habitats to the oil and gas industry which has a long history of violations and toxic spills in Cook Inlet,” said Pamela Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics. “It is outrageous that this Administration is abdicating its responsibility to protect our endangered beluga whales and their habitats in Cook Inlet, the ecosystem that sustain our subsistence and commercial fisheries, and the lives, livelihoods, and health of our communities.”
“It’s dangerous to hold another Cook Inlet oil and gas sale without even looking at how more drilling could hurt the belugas already struggling here,” said Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Cook Inlet is most valuable with clean, thriving waters with healthy fish and wildlife. The Trump administration should stop seeing Cook Inlet as an industrial sacrifice zone and really consider the massive risks drilling brings.”
“The Trump administration has prioritized selling off our public lands and waters over complying with the law, and this upcoming sale in Cook Inlet is no exception,” said Earthjustice attorney Hannah Payne Foster. “We are prepared to take legal action as a result of the administration’s refusal to comply with the Endangered Species Act in conducting this sale of our public waters to the oil and gas industry. The refusal to follow the rules could devastate the broader ecosystem and further imperil endangered species including the Cook Inlet beluga whale, which is already on the brink of extinction.”
“This reckless approach to oil and gas leasing in Cook Inlet shows a blatant disregard for the law,” said Irene Gutierrez, Senior Attorney, NRDC. “It would endanger beluga whales to benefit fossil fuel interests. Ignoring the Endangered Species Act’s basic consultation requirements sacrifices irreplaceable endangered wildlife for corporate profit.”
Background
In January, the Trump administration published its final notice of sale for the March Cook Inlet oil-and-gas sale (one of six scheduled through 2032) without complying with the ESA. This failure to meet the basic statutory requirements was alarming given BOEM’s acknowledgement that the Cook Inlet — a tidal estuary underpinning the ecology, culture, and economy of southcentral Alaska — is one of the most ecologically sensitive regions of the entire Outer Continental Shelf. Though the July 2025 Reconciliation Act mandated a lease sale in the Cook Inlet in 2026, that law did not exempt the administration from their mandate to comply with bedrock environmental laws such as the ESA and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Beyond the harms day-to-day offshore drilling operations pose to imperiled animals, including noise pollution and vessel strikes, a major oil spill could devastate the populations of already endangered species like the Cook Inlet beluga whale, whose current population is estimated at only 331 individuals, or less than 25 percent of the population in the 1970s.
Additionally, Cook Inlet is a central pillar of food, livelihoods, subsistence, and cultural lifeways for many Alaska Native communities. It also hosts Alaska’s largest city and many smaller coastal communities. And the Inlet supports tourism, recreation, and sport fishing — key components of the local economy — by providing habitat for fish, stunning scenery, and opportunities for boating and viewing wildlife.
As the current administration pursues an aggressive offshore leasing program, more than two dozen Alaska organizations and individuals including a current Olympian signed onto a letter opposing the administration’s plan to expand offshore drilling across nearly all federal waters off Alaska, with five new oil-and-gas sales proposed in Cook Inlet in addition to six Cook Inlet sales mandated by the Reconciliation Act. The groups say more Cook Inlet sales would waste taxpayer dollars without helping to solve a local natural gas shortage, as BOEM’s own projection shows little to no economically recoverable natural gas in Cook Inlet’s federal waters.
Meanwhile, industry demand has plummeted in Cook Inlet, drawing a single bid from just one company in the past two federal offshore oil sales held there. Yet no production has resulted from the leases held by this company. There has been drilling in the state waters of Cook Inlet for decades, but there has been no oil and gas development in its federal waters to date. Corporations operating in Cook Inlet have a concerning record of spills, leaks and violations of state and federal environmental regulations.