Monique Merrill

(CN) — A dispute between the state of Alaska and the federal government over who has the rights to 20,000 acres of land in the northwest corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been decided, after a federal judge ruled in favor of the feds on Wednesday.

“The state’s proposed boundary is more likely to sever geographic features in the area,” wrote U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason, a Barack Obama appointee.

The land dispute has taken on new significance over the year, as President Donald Trump has called for resource extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In a separate March ruling, Gleason ordered the reinstatement of an Alaskan agency’s oil and gas leases there.

A spokesperson for the state said Alaska is disappointed by the ruling.

See Full Page