April 19 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday

took steps to limit both oil and gas drilling and mining in

Alaska, angering state officials who said the restrictions will

cost jobs and make the U.S. reliant on foreign resources.

The measures are aligned with President Joe Biden's efforts

to rein in oil and gas activities on public lands and conserve

30% of U.S. lands and waters to combat climate change.

The Interior Department finalized a regulation to block oil

and gas development on 40% of Alaska's National Petroleum

Preserve to protect habitats for polar bears, caribou and other

wildlife and the way of life of indigenous communities.

The agency also said it would reject a proposal by a state

agency to construct a 211-mile (340-km) road intended to enable

mine development in the Ambler Mining District in north central

Alaska.

The agency cited risks to caribou and fish populations that

dozens of native communities rely on for subsistence.

"I am proud that my Administration is taking action to

conserve more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic and to

honor the culture, history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska

Natives who have lived on and stewarded these lands since time

immemorial," Biden said in a statement.

The NPR-A, as it is known, is a 23-million-acre (93-million

hectare) area on the state's North Slope that is the largest

tract of undisturbed public land in the United States. The new

rule would prohibit oil and gas leasing on 10.6 million acres

(4.3 million hectares) while limiting development on more than 2

million additional acres.

The rule would not affect existing oil and gas operations,

including ConocoPhillips' ( COP ) $8 billion Willow project,

which the Biden administration approved last year.

Currently, oil and gas leases cover about 2.5 million acres

(1 hectare).

The Ambler Access Project, proposed by the Alaska Industrial

and Development Export Authority (AIDEA), would enable mine

development in an area with copper, zinc and lead deposits and

create jobs, AIDEA has said.

Interior's Bureau of Land Management released its

environmental analysis of the project on Friday, recommending

"no action" as its preferred alternative. The project now faces

a final decision by the Interior Department.

Republican senators from Alaska and several other states

held a press conference on Thursday to slam the administration's

widely anticipated decisions.

"When you take off access to our resources, when you say you

cannot drill, you cannot produce, you cannot explore, you cannot

move it -- this is the energy insecurity that we're talking

about," Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said. "We're still going

to need the germanium, the gallium, the copper. We're still

going to need the oil. But we're just not going to get it from

Alaska."