Interior Secretary Deb Haaland plans to visit Alaska this month, a trip that is expected to include a visit to community at the heart of a long-running dispute over a proposed land exchange aimed at building a road through a national wildlife refuge.<\/p>\n
Haaland had planned to visit King Cove last year, but the trip never materialized.<\/p>\n
The Interior Department on Monday said Haaland planned to visit “several communities and sites” in Alaska the week of April 17, including Anchorage, Fairbanks and King Cove.<\/p>\n
Residents of King Cove have long sought a land connection through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to Cold Bay, which is about 18 miles (29 kilometers) away and has an all-weather airport. They call it a safety issue.<\/p>\n
The refuge, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, contains internationally recognized habitat for migrating waterfowl.<\/p>\n
In 2013, Interior Department officials declined a land exchange, and efforts to move forward with one under the Trump administration faced legal challenges. A U.S. Justice Department attorney, in arguing a position taken under the Trump administration, last year told a federal appeals court panel that Haaland planned to review the record and visit King Cove before taking a position herself on the issue.<\/p>\n
Interior Department spokesperson Tyler Cherry did not respond to questions about whether she was still weighing a decision. He said by email that he had no further details to share about the trip beyond those in the announcement sent Monday.<\/p>\n
A federal appeals court panel last month reversed a decision that rejected a land swap and sent the decision back to a federal judge in Alaska for further consideration. Conservation groups had sued over the proposed swap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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