No surface drilling will be allowed on 242,000 acres considered vital for molting geese, or on another 244,000 acres used by caribou. Slant drilling will be allowed under those surfaces from adjoining land. Pipelines must be seven feet high, at least initially, to allow caribou and hunters to pass beneath.
A maximum of 2,100 acres total in seven different zones can be permanently disturbed on the surface, and a three-year study will be conducted of molting geese, BLM staff said.
Leasing of the lands could begin by September, after reviews by a state coastal agency and a regional planning agency, although drilling on the lake will be deferred for 10 years.
"We have done a very good job balancing the subsistence resources while allowing some areas to be opened to oil and gas drilling," said Susan Childs, energy and mineral planning coordinator for BLM's Alaska office, which oversees the plan.
"Our mission is to provide for multiple uses. A part of our mission is to protect wildlife, but also part of our mission is to allow for the development of resources. Our job is to find that balance in oil and gas mining," said BLM Alaska spokeswoman Jody Weil.
But conservation groups blasted the plan and said there were no guarantees the restrictions would remain in place.
"They're notorious for granting waivers to their own rules," said Stanley E. Senner, a biologist who is executive director of Audubon Alaska.
"This plan is utterly unbalanced. Even the Reagan administration protected the waterfowl habitat around Teshekpuk Lake because of its world-class ecological and cultural value," Senner said. "No one should be fooled by the window dressing ... this plan makes every last acre available for oil development."
Chuck Clusen, director of the Natural Resource Defense Council's Alaska Project, said the BLM "is supposed to balance all values of our public lands. Giving 100% to the oil industry is not what anyone would call balanced."
Times Staff Writer Sam Howe Verhovek in Seattle contributed to this report.
