The Trump administration is moving toward oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A notice being published Friday in the Federal Register starts a 60-day review to sell oil and gas leases in the remote region.

"It is a 60 day scoping period that will be occurring in which we are looking for public input on what the issues may be in relation to an oil and gas leasing program within the Coastal Plain," said Nicole Hayes with the U.S Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management.

Dates for public meetings about the lease sales haven't been decided yet, but they will happen in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Arctic Village, Utqiaġvik and Kaktovik, according to Hayes.

If there is lots of interest, the department could add additional locations.

Opening the refuge to oil and gas drilling is a longtime Republican priority that most Democrats fiercely oppose. The 19.6-million acre refuge in northeastern Alaska is one of the most pristine areas in the United States and home to polar bears, caribou and migratory birds.

"The place is mystical, it's special, it's the last, it's one of the last untouched eco-systems in the world," said Bernadette Demientieff, the Executive Director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee.

President Bill Clinton vetoed a GOP plan to allow drilling in the refuge in 1995, and Democrats defeated a similar GOP plan a decade later.

Congress authorized drilling in the refuge in a tax-cut law approved in December, which was then signed by President Donald Trump.

Oil and gas advocates are pleased with Thursday's announcement, pointing out that the president has said he wants the country to be energy independent.

President Trump previously issued an executive order aimed at "promoting energy independence and economic growth."

Additionally, they say, a successful lease sale and drilling could be a windfall for the state of Alaska.

"For Alaska the potential impact is tremendous. Conservative estimates, based on old seismic estimates, said that ANWR, the Coastal Plain, could have maybe 10 billion barrels of oil," Kara Moriarty with the Alaska Oli and Gas Association said. "To put that into context, when we discovered Prudhoe we thought there was eight, and now we've produced 17 billion barrels from the Slope. So the Coastal Plain could be the next generation of oil and gas."

The public comment period is expected to be passionate, with multiple stakeholders participating.

"I have faith the Alaska Natives will unite and protect the Arctic Refuge," Demientieff said. "I really do because there's no way they're (oil companies) going to get in there."

According to BLM, the first lease sale will be held after completion of an environmental analysis, and will have a minimum of 400,000 acres area-wide of high-potential lands for bid.

Alaska's Congressional delegation and Gov. Bill Walker all sent statements supporting the development.

"We welcome this scoping announcement and the Department's continued work to implement our legislation opening the Coastal Plain to responsible energy development," the delegation said in a joint news release. "We appreciate the Department following the law, planning multiple public meetings with Alaskans, and moving forward on this important program to help ensure the energy and economic security of our nation."