> They said development would generate $900m, although an analysis by the non-partisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, based on historical bid data, found that it would bring in just a fraction of that amount – no more than $27.6m. That would be split between the federal government and the state of Alaska.

$900 million is a big number but when I opened this article I was wondering why any of the big name billionaires who are making climate change 'pledges', or basically thinking about Bezos here, wouldn't just buy it up instead.

Then I got to this part in the next paragraph

> The former governors Frank Murkowski and Bill Walker have encouraged the state to bid on any unwanted tracts itself, and last week a state-owned economic development corporation voted to authorize bidding up to $20m.

It looks like there is at least in Alaska some efforts to keep the lands away from oil companies.

Given that billionaires love to collect land even more than they like starting space companies, it'd be a huge philanthropic initiative to purchase it and have it turned into protected wildlife refuge.