Alaska holds some of the richest untapped natural resources in North America – oil, gas, coal, critical minerals, timber and hydropower. Yet despite this abundance, Alaska continues to suffer from economic stagnation, fiscal dependence on federal transfers, and self-imposed regulatory paralysis.

This is not due to lack of opportunity – it is due to lack of freedom. Nearly 60% of Alaska’s lands are locked in federal control, while state agencies often mirror federal overreach with duplicative, discretionary and slow-moving bureaucracies. The state’s permitting and development landscape has become a minefield of delays, litigation, and wasted investment. As a result, Alaska has become a resource-rich state with poor fiscal health.

This strategy presents a clear path forward: unleash Alaska’s natural resource economy through regulatory reform, land sovereignty, public-private reinvestment, and targeted use of federal transition funds. In doing so, the state can reduce its size, reassign public workers to meaningful private employment, and re-establish its long-lost economic independence.

Strategic Objectives

— Assert state sovereignty over permitting and land use within state jurisdiction.

— Modernize permitting systems using AI and digital baselining tools.

— Establish Strategic Resource Development Zones (SRDZs) to fast-track projects

— Privatize or lease idle public infrastructure under public-private models.

— Eliminate regulatory duplication and discretionary approvals.

— Wind down state development corporations and redirect capital into production.

— Expand private-sector and tribal roles in resource oversight and enforcement.

STRUCTURAL REFORMS & ACTIONS

Replace Regulatory Bureaucracy with Smart, Automated Systems

— Use federal funds (ARPA, IIJA, EPA Capacity Grants) to digitize and automate permitting processes across the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED).

— Streamline overlapping regulatory roles using AI tools for baseline data collection, compliance monitoring, and permit tracking.

— Result: Permitting timelines are cut by 50–70%, project certainty improves, and administrative headcount is reduced.

Establish Strategic Resource Development Zones (SRDZs)

Codify zones under state statute (Title 38) with:

— Pre-authorized environmental baselines

— NEPA substitutions where legally permissible

— Local or tribal monitoring and compliance frameworks

— Focus initial SRDZs on:

— Ambler Mining District

— Donlin Gold Corridor

— Graphite Creek

— Susitna River Basin

Mobilize a Public-Private Resource Transition Corps

— Reassign retrained state workers into:

— Field permitting and ESG compliance

— Reclamation and site monitoring

— Logistics and infrastructure projects

— Funded jointly via IIJA, DOE, and private industry contributions

Eliminate Preemptive Regulation in Favor of Performance-Based Models

Replace permit-by-permit discretion with data-driven standards:

— Permit issuance based on baseline conformity and financial bonding

— Real-time enforcement through third-party and tribal auditors

— Incentivize speed and compliance, not paperwork and delay

Lease or Privatize Idle Infrastructure

Offer 20–30 year leases for state-owned ports, airstrips, remote access roads

Require:

— Local hire commitments

— Infrastructure reinvestment provisions

— Shared royalty or access fees

Wind Down State Development Corporations

Dissolve or consolidate:

— AIDEA (Industrial Development)

— AHFC (Housing Finance)

— AMHTA (Mental Health Land Management)

Redirect capital into:

— Private-sector loan guarantees

— Infrastructure co-investment funds

— Industry-led capital formation strategies

Oversight and Performance Monitoring

— Annual Resource Development Report: Required to be submitted to the Legislature by DNR and DEC

— Independent Permitting Ombudsman: Reviews disputes and delays; reports publicly

— Third-Party AI Compliance Audits: All AI permitting systems subject to external validation

— Performance-Based Agency Incentives: Bonuses for departments based on time-to-permit benchmarks and project throughput

SUMMARY

Alaska must stop treating its resource wealth as a bargaining chip and start using it as a launchpad for economic sovereignty. The tools exist. The funding exists. What is needed is the political courage to dismantle bureaucracy end inertia, and trust Alaskans to develop and protect what they own.

By modernizing its permitting, returning land control to the state, empowering private enterprise and tribal co-management, and freeing up capital, Alaska can ignite an economic revolution – without raising taxes, increasing spending, or sacrificing environmental standards.

It’s time for Alaska to act like the owner of its resources. Because waiting for permission from Washington isn’t working – and never will.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

Click here to support the Alaska Watchman.