The Izembek Refuge Road

Dec. 2, 1980, Under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), Congress redesignates the Izembek National Wildlife Range as the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. 

March 30, 2009 In the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Congress directs the Secretary of the Interior to evaluate whether a land exchange to facilitate construction of a road across the Izembek Refuge, connecting King Cove and Cold Bay, is in the public interest. Congress also mandates an Environmental Impact Statement.

Dec. 23, 2013 Secretary of the Interior Jewell issues a decision declining the proposed land exchange. 

Sept. 8, 2015 The District Court for the District of Alaska affirms Secretary Jewell’s decision to reject the proposed road through Izembek because of the anticipated environmental impacts. Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove et. al. v. Jewell, No 3:14-cv-00110-HRH (D. Alaska).

Jan. 22, 2018 Secretary of the Interior Zinke signs a land swap agreement with the King Cove Corporation, transferring 500 acres in the Izembek refuge to facilitate the construction of a road. The agreement would grant land in the wildlife refuge to the Native corporation in exchange for land of equal value outside the Refuge in order to allow the corporation to complete a 12-mile road connecting King Cove to Cold Bay.

March 29, 2019 The District Court for the District of Alaska rejects DOI’s proposed land swap agreement, holding that DOI did not provide proper justification under the APA when it reversed the previous Secretary’s 2013 decision that Izembek “would be irretrievably damaged by construction and operation of the proposed road.” Friends of Alaska, et al. v. Bernhardt, et al., No 3:18-cv-00029-SLG (D. Alaska).

June 28, 2019 Secretary Bernhardt signs a second land swap agreement with the King Cove Corporation, identical to the Jan. 22, 2018 agreement signed by then-Secretary Zinke. The agreement includes an additional “Findings and Conclusions” section to explain the departure from the previous administration’s Izembek policy.  

Aug. 7, 2019 Environmental groups file suit against DOI to challenge the agreed-upon land swap deal with the King Cove Corporation. Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuge et al. v. Bernhardt, et al., No. 3:19-cv-00216 (D. Alaska).

June 1, 2020 The District Court for the District of Alaska rejects DOI’s second proposed land exchange with the King Cove Corporation, finding DOI again failed to provide adequate reasoning to support the change in policy in violation of the APA. The court also holds that DOI violated Title VI of ANILCA by failing to follow the law’s procedural mandates for the approval of transit systems within conservation areas. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges v. Bernhardt, No. 3:19-cvCV-00216 JWS (D. Alaska).

Aug. 17, 2020 DoI files a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges v. Bernhardt, No. 20-35728 (9th Cir).

Jan. 15, 2021 Secretary Bernhardt issues a memo allowing the Fish and Wildlife Service to approve a right-of-way permit consistent with the proposed road construction across the Izembek Refuge. Bernhardt argues that King Cove is effectively surrounded by conservation units and is therefore an “inholding” under federal law, and that ANILCA “requires me to allow adequate and feasible access to land owned by the State or private persons that are within or effectively surrounded by a conservation system unit.”

February 17, 2021 The Fish and Wildlife Service sends a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities returning the agency’s right-of-way permit application for the Izembek Refuge road and closing the file. The Army Corps submitted a similar letter on February 5. These actions do not preclude the Alaska agency from resubmitting a similar application in the future.

March 8, 2021 The DOJ files a brief in support of the Trump-era appeal. In its brief, DOJ argues that the district court erred in ruling that the land exchange violates the APA and ANILCA, stating “Interior placed greater weight on the welfare of the people of King Cove, and less weight on environmental harms,” and doing so does not violate the law. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges v. Bernhardt, No. 20-35728 (9th Cir).

March 16, 2022 The Ninth Circuit reverses the district court’s 2020 decision, holding that BLM’s 2019 land swap did not violate the APA or ANILCA. In the 2-1 opinion, Judges Eric Miller and Bridget Bade say that Congress gave the Interior Secretary “discretion to strike an appropriate balance between environmental interests and economic and social needs.” Miller and Bade are both Trump appointees. Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, a Clinton appointee, dissents arguing that Bernhardt failed to adequately justify the “tectonic shift” in policy from Secretary Jewell’s 2013 decision finding that the road would cause “significant degradation of irreplaceable ecological resources.” Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges v. Haaland, No. 20-35728 (9th Cir).

May 9, 2022 President Jimmy Carter files an amicus brief in support of conservation groups’ petition for a rehearing en banc of the Ninth Circuit’s 2-1 decision upholding the 2019 land exchange agreement. He argues that the decision is “deeply mistaken” and “unilaterally undercut[s]” the purposes of ANILCA, which Carter signed into law in 1980. Carter notes that “the secretarial powers the decision recognized would apply equally to National Parks, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, as well as Wilderness Areas and other conservation lands, and to all manner of development and extractive activities, not just road building.” Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and former Solicitor for Interior John Leshy also submit an amicus brief in support of the rehearing. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges v. Haaland, No. 20-35728 (9th Cir).

Aug. 5, 2022 DOJ files a brief defending the land swap before the Ninth Circuit, opposing environmental groups’ petition for a rehearing en banc (a rehearing of the case by 11 circuit judges). DOI issues a statement saying that DOJ’s position seeks to defend the DOI Secretary’s authority to make public lands decisions, and not the merits of the exchange itself, “which is an issue that remains to be addressed” before a lower court “and, ultimately, by the Department”. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges v. Haaland, No. 20-35728 (9th Cir). 

Nov. 10, 2022 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacates the three-judge panel opinion issued on March 16, which upheld the land exchange. The court will rehear the consolidated cases en banc. Oral argument is scheduled for Dec. 13, 2022. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges et al. v. Haaland et al., No. 20-35721 (9th Cir.); Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges et al. v. Haaland et al., No. 20-35727 (9th Cir.); Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges et al. v. Haaland et al., No. 20-35728 (9th Cir.).

March 14, 2023 Secretary Haaland withdraws the Trump-era land exchange, noting that the 2019 authorization contained several “procedural flaws” including a lack of public participation and failure to analyze potential effects on subsistence uses and habitat. On May 11, DOJ asks the Ninth Circuit to dismiss its case reviewing the land exchange, arguing the withdrawal moots the case. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges v. Haaland, No. 20-35728 (9th Cir). 

May 18, 2023 DOI issues a notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) assessing the impacts of the proposed land swap and road. The public can submit comments on the scope of DOI’s analysis on or before June 20, 2023. 

June 15, 2023 The Ninth Circuit grants DOJ’s motion to dismiss, holding that the case is now moot following Interior’s withdrawal of the land exchange and vacating the District Court’s June 1, 2020 decision. Friends of Alaska Nat’l Wildlife Refuges, et al. v. Haaland et al., No. 20-35728 (9th Cir).