Oil and gas lease sale set for Alaska's Wildlife Refuge, amid litigation

The U.S. government plans another oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The sale set for June 5 follows two prior sales that saw no interest from major oil companies. It also comes amid ongoing litigation aimed at blocking drilling in a region seen as sacred by the indigenous Gwich’in. A law passed by Congress last year calls for four lease sales in the refuge's coastal plain over a 10-year period. This would be the first sale for the refuge under that law.