Alaska transportation officials had expected to begin construction immediately on the now-approved King Cove road within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, but a federal ruling could derail them.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CN) – Another stack of documents has been added to a growing pile of lawsuits challenging Alaska’s intended construction of a 19-mile road inside a peninsular protected natural area.
On Wednesday, multiple conservation organizations unsuspecting US Army Corps of Engineers in the US District Court for the District of Alaska. Earlier this month, the military engineering branch, which reviews major development projects and the potential environmental impacts of such actions, announced formal approval of state plans for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, located east of the Aleutian Islands on the Alaska Peninsula.
The plaintiffs, including Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, the Alaska Wilderness League and the National Wildlife Refuge Association, argue that the Army Corps violated the Clean Water Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and other statutes by issuing a permit for the project.
Trustees for Alaska, a nonprofit legal organization with an environmental focus, is the attorney for the plaintiffs. In the complaint, attorneys for the Trustees noted that the Izembek refuge is “internationally recognized for its unique and ecologically important wetlands and wildlife,” arguing that the development would “permanently alter the landscape” and endanger the health of wildlife such as brown bears, waterfowl, sea lions and sea otters.
Named after an Alaska Native corporation that would own the rights-of-way, the proposed “King Cove Road” would extend 18.9 miles from the village of the corporation’s name to Cold Bay, allowing King Cove residents easier access to a larger airport in the latter town.
According to the plaintiffs, the Army Corps’ approval ignored past findings by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the road proposal would be “the greatest known potential threat to wildlife and wilderness values within the Izembek complex,” as well as utility assessments that concluded transportation alternatives such as air and sea connections were not more reliable than a road.
The Army Corps issued the permit illegally, the plaintiffs said, by failing to consider mitigation options and not properly considering the proposal’s impacts on marine ecosystems.
A land swap between the King Cove Corporation and the Interior Department, originally planned during President Donald Trump’s first term before being revised and ultimately blocked by the Biden administration, passed last October, giving the corporation 484 acres of federal land between the two towns in exchange for 1,739 acres elsewhere within the Izembek refuge.
King Cove Corporation representatives say a road connection to Cold Bay would greatly improve medical access for village residents.
The land exchange itself is being challenged in federal court by three Alaska Native villages and the Center for Biological Diversity, who accuse the Interior Department of violating the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act by not considering impacts on wildlife and by not enforcing any restrictions on the use of the proposed road — for example, commercial or recreational use regulations.
US District Judge Sharon L. Gleason will determine the legality of the land swap, while the new Army Corps lawsuit remains undetermined at press time.
Since multiple aspects of the King Cove Road proposal are targeted in separate cases for violations of environmental and administrative law, any ruling in favor of the respective plaintiffs could thwart the State of Alaska’s goal, according to Governor Mike Dunleavy, to “begin road construction within 30 days” of Army Corps approval.
“Approving the King Cove Road permit reflects President Trump’s vision for a more efficient nation — cutting unnecessary red tape and overhauling our regulatory process to ensure quick, clear and consistent decisions that implement our regulatory authorities as Congress intended,” said Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Affairs Adam Telle. “We are able to help projects like this move forward with regulatory certainty and provide Alaskans with the safe and reliable access they deserve.”
“If Izembek Road happens, it will cause a lot of chaos for the Alaska Natives in my region who still live off the land and sea. The birds that we hunt may not be able to survive,” Chief Edgar Tall Sr. said. of the native village of Hooper Bay, a plaintiff in the land exchange case who brought her own suit against the military. “I want the government to listen to us and stop destroying things before everything around us is gone.”
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