The Trump administration has green-lighted plans for a road through 10 miles of wilderness lands in Alaska, despite pending litigation from environmentalists who say it would destroy sensitive wetlands and prime migratory bird habitat.
The Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit Thursday for the gravel road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that would give a remote coastal community better access to hospital care during the area’s tough winters. It was the last major regulatory step needed to advance the project backed by the state of Alaska.
Conservation and some Alaska Native tribal groups have filed three separate federal lawsuits to block the road. But Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has been strongly in favor, calling it “preposterous” last year that one has not yet been built.
The Interior Department under the Biden administration also backed a land swap to allow the road to be built. Former Secretary Deb Haaland visited King Cove, a federally recognized Alaska Native village, and met with locals about the project.
For decades, residents of the small town of King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula have pushed to build a gravel road through the refuge that would give residents wintertime access to the year-round airport in Cold Bay. During stormy winter months, the small aircraft that access King Cove are often unable to fly, leaving residents stranded during medical emergencies.
But the stretch of wilderness near the Aleutian Islands is a major stopping point for millions of migratory birds, and environmentalists worry that a road would increase human presence in a remote region. The Izembek refuge houses one of the world’s largest remaining eelgrass beds, highly productive ecosystems that are critical for marine life.
The project reached a major milestone last fall, when Interior authorized land in the refuge to be traded from federal ownership to an Alaska Native corporation, which itself gave up its own acreage to be added to the wildlife refuge.
Alaska’s Department of Transportation and Public Facilities applied for a wetland and stream permit shortly thereafter.
With that permit now issued, groups challenging the land swap hope that a ruling will come out next week to block construction. The case is currently before Judge Sharon Gleason, an Obama appointee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
“The only thing that’s been stopping them from going out with bulldozers tomorrow or today is they needed a Clean Water Act [Army Corps] permit to fill wetlands,” said Daniel Franz, a staff attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “We’re now in the world where bulldozers could roll tomorrow.”
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The state and members of Alaska’s congressional delegation have long described the road as critical for public safety.
Spanning just under 19 miles in total, the road would destroy nearly 4.6 acres of wetlands and 0.7 acres of streams, the Army Corps said in approving the project. The agency’s permit requires the state to implement erosion-control measures and avoid fish-breeding areas during spawning seasons “to the maximum extent practicable,” along with other measures aimed at reducing damages.
Franz said the impacts described are likely an underestimate, because the wetlands in the area are “interconnected.”
As for the litigation, Gleason could make a decision on the merits of the three lawsuits as soon as July 15, Franz said. Defenders of Wildlife has notified the court of the Army Corps’ permit.
“Everyone is under the same understanding that this is the timely moment, and we’re hoping that Judge Gleason sees that and rules in response to that timeliness,” Franz said.
