NORTHERN ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER v. KEMPTHORNE
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in NORTHERN ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER v. KEMPTHORNE, No. 05-35085, an appeal in a civil action against the United States. The panel consisted of Mary M. Schroeder, Chief Judge, Arthur L. Alarcón and Andrew J. Kleinfeld, Circuit Judges.
SCHROEDER, Chief Judge:
Since the administration of President Warren G. Harding, the United States has looked to the petroleum and natural gas resources underlying the wilderness of Northern Alaska, but development has come slowly. The frigid region is far reaching and so is the range of wildlife that inhabits it. The government now proposes to lease vast reaches of the northernmost part of the state, known as the Northwest Planning Area (”NWPA”). In this litigation, a group of environ. . .