A withdrawal withholds an area of federal land from settlement, sale, location, or entry under some or all of the general land laws, for the purpose of limiting activities under those laws in order to maintain other public values in the area or reserving the area for a particular public purpose or program; or transferring jurisdiction over an area of federal land, other than property governed by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (40 U.S.C. 472), from one department, bureau or agency to another department, bureau or agency.

Withdrawals include federal land set aside and dedicated to a present, governmental use; public land set aside for some other public purpose, e.g., pending a determination of how the land is to be used; an action approved by the Secretary or a law enacted by Congress that closes land to specific uses under the public land laws (usually sale, settlement, location, and entry), or limits use to maintain public values or reserves area for particular public use or program, or that transfers jurisdiction of an area to another federal agency. Withdrawals are usually enacted through a public land order or legislation.

Most of the BLM-managed lands within the planning area are under some type of withdrawal pursuant to ANCSA 17(d)(1), the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, or some other federal law. Some areas are covered by more than one withdrawal. The effect of the withdrawal varies and can only be determined for a specific parcel of land by reading the withdrawal order.

There are other types of withdrawals besides those authorized by ANCSA or other public laws. These include BLM withdrawals for administrative sites and withdrawals by other agencies. All of the withdrawals reserved for or managed by the BLM will be reviewed to determine if they should be retained, relinquished, or whether some other action should be taken. Those withdrawals for the use of other agencies and purposes will be reviewed for status and will continue to be in effect until a change is required or warranted.