Biden expected to soon issue anticipated study on proposed Alaska road’s environmental impacts

The Biden administration is soon expected to take the next steps over a contentious lands issue in Alaska. 

A source told The Hill that next week the administration is expected to release a draft environmental study that could indicate whether the administration plans to move ahead with a controversial road and land swap through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. 

The source did not know whether the study would ultimately take a position on whether to move forward or what its position would be — but the study’s release marks the next step in the process of advancing the project.

The road, which had previously been approved by the Trump administration, would connect the small King Cove community to an airport that supporters say is important for emergency medical evacuation. 

When it approved the road, the Trump administration called it the “right thing to do.” 

But opponents have said the road puts the refuge’s lands, waters and animals at risk — including some wildlife that is important to tribes. 

The Biden administration last year withdrew the Trump-era approval, citing “several procedural flaws” and launching its own environmental review.

Estelle Thomson, president of the Native Village of Paimiut, said that the area in question is important for species of birds like the emperor goose that are important to her village. 

“My people depend on them … for food. If we have declines in those numbers, it could be devastating to us.”

She added that this applies to “not just my village, but hundreds of other villages.”

It’s not clear whether a decision on the road will ultimately be reached before President-elect Trump re-assumes office or whether that administration would once again revisit the issue.