Court Rehearing Granted For Izembek National Wildlife Refuge

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska recently had a big win in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when a rehearing was granted for a previous District Court decision that could allow a road to be constructed across the unique national wildlife refuge. The National Wildlife Refuge Association, former President Jimmy Carter, Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, and other conservation partners petitioned to request a rehearing of that decision by a larger set of 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges earlier this year.

The rehearing of the decision will take place on December 12, 2022. The decision was based on the lawfulness of a land exchange agreement signed in late June 2019 between the Department of the Interior and the King Cove Corporation. This land swap, negotiated through a completely nontransparent process, would allow for the wilderness land in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to be traded for other lands owned by the King Cove Corporation so that a road can be built through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Arctic ground squirrel feeding on lupine in Izembek NWR, AK | Kristine Sowl / USFWS

For decades, the National Wildlife Refuge Association has worked tirelessly to protect the Izembek NWR from this Road To Nowhere. Its construction would have devastating impacts on more than half a million Pacific brant, emperor geese, swans, and other wildlife, resulting in habitat fragmentation, disturbance, and pollution. The road would be the first ever to bisect a congressionally-designated wilderness, where by definition, humans leave no mark. The precedent opens the door for other wilderness areas to be destroyed. Further, the principles established in the “National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997” would be reversed. 

While we celebrate being granted a rehearing, the fight is far from over. The National Wildlife Refuge Association will be monitoring efforts to oppose the rehearing and the progression of the road in the refuge closely and continue to work towards permanent protection of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.