Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Central Yukon Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan”.
Key claim: Congress enacted a joint resolution (Public Law 119-50) nullifying the Bureau of Land Management’s Central Yukon Resource Management Plan that had designated approximately 3.6 million acres as areas of critical environmental concern or research natural areas.
Abstract
(HJRES106 · 119th Congress) This joint resolution nullifies the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) relating to the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) for Alaska’s Central Yukon planning area and issued on November 12, 2024. By way of background, an RMP guides the management of lands administered by the BLM. This Central Yukon RMP modified the prior RMP for the area, including by designating 21 areas of critical environmental concern or research natural areas, encompassing approximately 3,611,000 acres. Latest action (2025-12-11): Became Public Law No: 119-50.
Why this matters
The CRA nullification removes ACEC and Research Natural Area protections across roughly 3.6 million acres in Alaska’s Central Yukon planning area, potentially reopening those lands to mineral, right-of-way, and other multiple-use activities that the RMP had constrained. Because CRA disapproval also bars BLM from issuing a substantially similar rule without new congressional authorization, the practical effect is a durable shift in the land-use baseline and permitting environment for the region. It fits a broader pattern of Congress using the CRA to reverse Interior Department land-management decisions.