A proposed land exchange that would pave the way for a controversial road through Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge has revived a decades-long debate pitting conservation against public safety that will only intensify once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
The land swap proposal outlined Wednesday by the Fish and Wildlife Service would appear to be a clear win for Alaska’s political leaders, who over the past four years have pushed the Biden administration on the project, while generally decrying federal regulations in their state.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) praised the Fish and Wildlife Service draft analysis and proposal to add 31,198 acres owned by King Cove Corp., an Alaska Native corporation, to the Izembek refuge in exchange for about 490 acres of federal lands within the refuge that would be used as a road corridor for a 10.5-mile-long, single-lane gravel road.
The road would connect the small town of King Cove to an all-weather airport in nearby Cold Bay, allowing sick or injured people to be safely flown to hospitals more than 600 miles away in Anchorage. Currently, King Cove residents have few options to reach Cold Bay during winter months, and Coast Guard helicopters are sometimes called in to transport patients in emergencies.
