The Department of the Interior (DOI) withdrew the land exchange, finalized by former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in 2019 and defended in court by the Biden administration, citing procedural flaws and inconsistencies with agency policy.
The road, proposed by the King Cove Corp., an Alaska Native corporation, would be a short, gravel, one-lane road cutting through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Alaska, connecting the small community in King Cove to an all-weather airport in nearby Cold Bay. Proponents of the project have argued the road is necessary to give King Cove residents greater access to emergency services, as the tiny airstrip in the village is heavily dependent on good weather.
March 16, 2023
Environmentalists, however, have long argued that a road would threaten the wilderness and wildlife habitat of the refuge, established in 1960. These concerns have been echoed by the Obama administration, which rejected the road proposal in 2013. The Trump administration reversed that decision five years later, signing two agreements with King Cove Corp. to swap lands. A federal district court then rejected the agreement after environmental groups filed a legal challenge, and the Trump administration appealed the decision.
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The appeals panel reversed the lower court decision and upheld the road project in March 2022. However, the Biden administration has now withdrawn the land exchange, initiating a new environmental analysis of the proposal as part of President Biden’s conservation agenda.
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DOI Secretary Deb Haaland commented on the decision, saying, "The debate around approving the construction of a road to connect the people of King Cove to life-saving resources has created a false choice, seeded over many years, between valuing conservation and wildlife or upholding our commitments to Indigenous communities. I reject that binary choice."
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In response to the withdrawal of the land swap, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy argued, "The 11-mile road from King Cove to Cold Bay would connect residents in King Cove to an all-weather airport in Cold Bay and would save lives. It makes zero sense that Secretary Haaland would want to deprive Alaskans of the life-saving services the road would provide access to."
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The road has also received support from state lawmakers and leading Indigenous groups like the National Congress of American Indians and the Alaska Federation of Natives. Secretary Haaland has stated her commitment to engaging in nation-to-nation consultation with tribes. Still, environmental groups remain optimistic that the court will ultimately reject the illegal land exchange and protect the irreplaceable wilderness and wildlife habitat of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
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