The Department of the Interior confirmed Tuesday that it would withdraw from a deal to allow the construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Under the Trump administration, the federal government had negotiated a land swap deal to build the road – an attempt to connect the city of King Cove with the nearby Cold Bay Airport.
But Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the department would instead consider another land swap initially floated in 2013. She believes the route would still enable residents to access emergency medical care.
The debate over the road "has created a false choice, seeded over many years, between valuing conservation and wildlife or upholding our commitments to Indigenous communities," Haaland stated. "I reject that binary choice."
"I have instructed my team to immediately launch a process to review previous proposals for a land exchange," she continued, emphasizing a commitment to "nation-to-nation consultation" with the remote area's indigenous tribes.
An Interior spokeswoman told The New York Times that the department, which previously defended the Izembek land swap in court, intends to withdraw its support from pending litigation.
It comes as residents of King Cove have pushed for the 40-mile road's construction for years to connect the isolated community, just off the Aleutian Islands, to an all-weather airport.
Environmental activists have warned that the proposed route through the massive Izembek refuge could disrupt local wildlife and harm the wetlands, a stopover territory for geese and other migrating birds.
"The delicate Pacific black brant population and other migratory and non-migratory birds would be endangered by this development, as the road would be an incredible stressor to these and other wildlife," The Wilderness Society claimed.
"The project would threaten the integrity of the refuge and set a chilling precedent for other wilderness areas across the nation," the group added.
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