The Department of the Interior has set the stage for a controversial land trade that would allow a road to be built through Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
In a draft environmental impact statement released on Thursday, the department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended a multi-part swap of land between the federal government and a for-profit Native corporation to free up a corridor for an 18.9-mile road cutting through what is currently designated wilderness in the refuge that lies at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula.
The road would connect King Cove, a mostly Aleut community of nearly 900 people, with the airport at Cold Bay, a community about 18 miles by air to the northwest. While Cold Bay is smaller – with only 57 residents, according to the Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs – its airport has a long, jet-accommodating runway. Built by the U.S. Army during World War II, the airport is now owned by the state and can operate year-round.
Read more in Alaska Public here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
