Federal Land Transfer Along Alaska Pipeline Illegal, Groups Say

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum illegally took steps to transfer 2.1 million acres of federal land to the state of Alaska along the Dalton Highway and open the region to mining, 10 environmental groups claim in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The groups, led by the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, are asking the US District Court for the District of Alaska to vacate Burgum’s order and permanently enjoin the Interior Department from transferring some of the land to the state.

Burgum on Feb. 25 revoked two Nixon administration land orders from the early 1970s that ...