The Interior Department held a live online chat with Secretary Sally Jewell yesterday in advance of National Public Lands Day on September 28. Naturally, questions arose about how the Department manages competing calls to use public lands to generate more domestic energy, and to keep energy development off of public lands.

Secretary Jewell suggested that when determining which public lands should be accessible to exploration and drilling, avoiding the most controversial areas offers a means of striking the right balance between resource needs and environmental protection.

“There are places where nobody would want to see development,” Secretary Jewell said, listing the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and “also places like ANWR [Arctic National Wildlife Refuge], which the president has made clear is not for petroleum development”.

She said the Interior Department aimed to “focus our energy development on areas where the conflict is lower”.

Her suggestion is logical and practical. But there are some outspoken Alaskans who would disagree that ANWR falls into that category.

For more on controversy over ANWR exploration and development access, read Drilling on Federal Lands: Alaska Has Energy Envy