The Interior Department recently held its first lease sale of President Donald Trump’s second, nonconsecutive term in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, selling off tracts of land for possible drilling in an area that has been virtually untouched by the oil and gas industry. And following this month’s sale, it will very likely stay that way.The ANWR, the remote refuge near the United States-Canada border, sits more than 600 miles from Anchorage, Alaska, the Last Frontier’s largest city, with nearly 300,000 people — about 40% of the state’s population. The ANWR is widely considered one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, with undisturbed ecosystems and habitats of caribou, polar bears, and hundreds of species of birds stretching nearly 20 million acres. There are no established roads, trails, or facilities of any type within the refuge, and only two permanent villages whose native communities have survived off the land for thousands of years.Environmentalists, climate activists, and some native groups have, for years, sought to stop fossil fuel development in the area, fearing harm to surrounding wildlife and ecosystems. However, residents of the sole village in the northernmost part of the refuge are welcoming possible drilling projects with open arms to support their own economic growth.