Interior Secretary Haaland in midst of visit to Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is in the midst of her first visit to Alaska in that role, which included a visit to a community at the center of a long-running dispute over a proposed land exchange aimed at building a road through a national wildlife refuge.

Residents of King Cove have seen a road as a life and safety issue. Haaland was in King Cove on Wednesday with Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Dunleavy’s office said. King Cove residents 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.

The refuge is near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula and contains internationally recognized habitat for migrating waterfowl.

“The federal government needs to consider human safety and quality of life factors for residents in King Cove. The locals deserve to be heard by the federal government,” Dunleavy said in a statement.

A U.S. Justice Department attorney last summer said Haaland had not decided what position she would take on a proposed land exchange, saying Haaland planned to review the record and visit King Cove before making a decision. A planned trip to Alaska last year didn’t materialize.

In 2013, then-Secretary Sally Jewell visited King Cove to hear from residents. Jewell later issued a decision declining a land exchange, saying she supported a conclusion by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that building a road through the refuge would cause irreversible damage to the refuge and to wildlife that depend on it.

Under the Trump administration, efforts to advance a land exchange faced legal challenges.

But a divided federal appeals court panel last month reversed a decision by U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick that had set aside a proposed 2019 agreement that then-Secretary David Bernhardt had entered into with King Cove Corp., an Alaska Native village corporation.

Sedwick had found in part that Bernhardt had failed to provide adequate reasoning to support a change in policy in favor of a land exchange and road. The appeals court panel disagreed with that assessment.

“The choice to place greater weight on the interests of King Cove residents sufficiently explained the change in policy,” the appeals court opinion stated.

Bridget Psarianos, staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska, last month vowed continued efforts to “fight this illegal land exchange to protect Izembek’s irreplaceable values and all of Alaska’s protected public lands.” Trustees for Alaska represented conservation groups that challenged the proposed land exchange.

Della Trumble, CEO of the King Cove Corp., said she thought it was important that Haaland was able to hear from residents directly. Haaland has not yet made an announcement about her approach to the issue.

“At this point, we just do everything we can and continue forward and with the hope that we can put this all behind us and move forward and be able to have safe access between these two communities,” Trumble said.

Melissa Schwartz, an Interior Department spokesperson, by email said Haaland’s visit to Alaska includes meetings with “Alaska Native leaders and elders, local, state and federal elected officials, and members of the conservation, outdoor recreation, and labor community to discuss sustainable economies, federal investments, and infrastructure needs.”