Interior Dept. clears way for oil leases in part of Alaska’s North Slope

The Interior Department on Wednesday opened nearly half a million acres of federal land in an ecologically sensitive area of Alaska’s North Slope to oil and gas development.

The department said it would allow oil development in virtually all of the wetlands surrounding Lake Teshekpuk in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The lake region includes one of the most important molting areas in the Arctic for wild geese and areas sought out by caribou herds for calving.

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