Land swap for road in Alaska refuge considered again

The U.S. Interior Department will explore a land exchange that could lead to construction of a road through a national wildlife refuge in Alaska.

An agreement expected to be signed this month calls for the KingCove Corp., an Alaska Native village corporation, to identify up to twosquarekilometresof its land that could be swapped for equal-value land within Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

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The refuge encompasses internationally recognized habitat formigrating waterfowl in southwest Alaska.

The road would connect the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay,which has an all-weather airport needed for emergency medical flights.

An evaluation of lands of equal value would "ideally" culminatewith a land exchange and a road through the refuge, said LauraTanis, spokeswoman for the Aleutians East Borough.

"As we've said before, this is about health, safety and qualityof life for the King Cove residents," she said in an email response to questions.

King Cove is a village of more than 900 people near the tip ofthe Alaska Peninsula, the body of land in Alaska's southwest cornerthat juts toward the Aleutian Islands. Strong winds and mountains frequently prompt the cancellationof flights into the village.

Residents for decades have sought a road link to Cold Bay, the siteof the airport built during World War II.

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Supporters say the one-lane, gravel road would carry medicalpatients and private traffic but would be closed to commercial uses such as transporting fish.

Congress in 1997 addressed the King Cove transportation issuewith a $37.5 million appropriation for water access to Cold Bay that included a $9 million hovercraft. The Aleutians East Borough took it out of service after deciding it was too expensive and unreliable to operate.

Migrating birds

Environmental groups strongly oppose a road, which would split anarrow isthmus separating ocean lagoons that provide important habitat for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds.

The isthmus is the southern border of the388-square-kilometreIzembek Lagoon, holding one of the world's largest beds of eelgrass, a rich food source for Pacific brant, endangered Steller's eiders and other migratory birds.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013 concluded that a 35-kilometreroad through the isthmus could cause irrevocable damage to the watershed. Former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell agreed with a Fish and Wildlife analysis that found a land exchange could not compensate for the special qualities of existing refuge lands.

Environmental groups vow to challenge any road-building becauseof the harm and the precedent it would set in opening up other federal wild lands.

King Cove officials a year ago said they were optimistic thattheir request for a road would fare better under President DonaldTrump than under the Obama administration. King Cove has the backing of the state of Alaska and its congressional delegation.

The new agreement of an exchange of up to 21 squarekilometres, or 500 acres, of corporation land is far less than previous proposed exchanges.

In 2013, the proposal rejected by Jewell would have swapped 0.8 squarekilometresfrom Izembek refuge and 6.5 square kilometresfrom a federal refuge south of Kodiak for 173.5 squarekilometresof state land and 54 squarekilometresof land belonging to King Cove Corp.

In July, the U.S. House approved legislation proposing a swap of 0.8 squarekilometresin Izembek for 173 square kilometresof state land.

An Interior Department spokeswoman did not return an email seeking comment.