President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday moved to put more of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off limits to oil and gas development, in a last-minute bid to complicate President-elect Donald Trump's efforts to boost drilling in the area.

Oil companies have been hesitant to pursue resources at Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in part because of high costs of development, and public relations challenges around drilling in a wildlife sanctuary.

Republicans said they were seeking ways to quickly reverse the restrictions in the state’s North Slope region.

The Biden administration is setting in motion actions that could prevent drilling in more “special areas” of Alaska’s north slope — if the incoming Trump administration does not shelve it. The Interior Department issued a memo Thursday proposing a new protected area and prosing to expand existing protected areas.