A land swap would allow for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that supporters say King Cove needs; opponents say it would be ecologically ruinous.
Brant fly by Mount Dutton in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge on Sept. 11, 2009. The refuge supports nearly the world’s entire population of Pacific brant. The debate over the land trade and the road it would enable have pitted concerns about public safety against those about habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.
Arrayed against the project are environmentalists and some Native residents and organizations in Western Alaska. They argue that the land trade sets a dangerous precedent and that the road development will damage wildlife habitat, including wetlands vital to migratory bird populations on which the region’s Yup’ik people depend for food and culture.
The preferred alternative in the draft environmental impact statement, which is technically a supplemental document building on past studies, would give 490 acres of refuge land to the Native-owned King Cove Corp. in exchange for 31,198 acres. Most of the King Cove Corp. land given to the federal government would be added to theeast of Izembek. The Aleut Corp.
Federal Government Southwest Biden Administration Cold Bay Department Of The Interior Izembek National Wildlife Refuge King Cove King Cove Road U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service
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