NPR-A was set aside as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy by President Warren Harding in 1923. In 1976, the reserve was transferred to the DOI's Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

In 2022, the Biden administration announced the closure of almost half of the NPR-A reserve to oil and gas drilling, overturning a policy from the first Trump administration that sought to boost oil development in the region.

The latest proposal reverses the Biden-era restrictions, "consistent with the Trump administration's commitment to Energy Dominance and regulatory reform," the DOI said.