Alaskan city says new road will save lives, opponents fear it will impact wildlife

The Biden administration expressed support for a controversial $24 million road project connecting the remote city of King Cove, Alaska, to the Cold Bay Airport. Proponents argue the road is critical for providing year-round access to medical evacuations. However, environmentalists are concerned about the project’s impact on the ecosystems within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

The proposal has seen shifting federal stances over the years. The Obama administration initially rejected the idea, citing environmental concerns. However, the plan was later approved when the Trump administration took over.

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That green-light was then withdrawn by the Biden administration, only for the White House to later reverse course. Officials now claim the latest plan addresses previous shortcomings including conservation trade-offs. Developers have agreed to transfer about 30,000 acres of land to the federal government to expand the wilderness refuge.

“The purposes of the proposed action are to provide a safe, reliable, year-round transportation system for health and safety purposes, with particular emphasis on emergency medical evacuations, between King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska, and increase the overall conservation values of lands preserved in the National Wildlife Refuge System and also maintain or increase the opportunity for subsistence uses by rural Alaskans,” the federal government said in a statement.

Despite the revised plan, environmental advocacy groups, such as Defenders of Wildlife, argued building the road would disturb vital habitats for various animal species. They also question the necessity of this project, highlighting the risks posed by Alaska’s harsh winter storms. They said those harsh storms could render the road impassable for much of the year.

Critics further point to the $50 million in federal funding for emergency medical response King Cove has already received, including a $9 million hovercraft system that they claim is faster than the proposed road.

“Wilderness and national wildlife refuges are two of the most important conservation designations in the country and they are supposed to be permanent,” Defenders of Wildlife said in a statement. “The proposal at Izembek would trade out wilderness and refuge lands to skirt these protections, setting a terrible precedent for sensitive conservation lands across the country.”

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The Fish and Wildlife Service opened a public input period as the government agency prepares to issue another supplemental environmental impact statement on the project. Meanwhile, experts expect that construction of the road will likely be allowed to move forward under incoming President-elect Donald Trump.