The gravel road that an isolated community near the Aleutian Islands wants to build is not a huge project. The road has been a source of contention since it was first proposed.
The dispute is heating up. Jimmy Carter, the former President, weighed in.
A recent federal appeals court ruling that upheld a Trump-era land deal that would allow the project in King Cove has the potential to be a long-sought victory for residents and political leaders in the state.
More is at risk than just the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, 300,000 acres of unique habitat for migratory waterfowl, bears and other animals, because the project is more about transporting salmon and workers for the large cannery in King Cove.
If the ruling is allowed to stand, future secretaries of the interior could carve up 100 million acres of public lands in the state at their discretion. They were disappointed in the Biden White House, which defended the previous administration in court.
The 39th president of the United States was a Democrat who left office in 1973.
Sign up for the Climate Forward newsletter, for Times subscribers only. Your must-read guide to the climate crisis.A rare legal filing by a former president, this month, supports an appeal by groups to have a larger panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rehear the case. The panel voted to uphold the land deal with two Trump-appointed judges in favor.
Mr. Carter said in the legal brief that he was not a lawyer but that he was a farmer, Sunday school teacher and recipient of the peace prize.
He has a vested interest in the matter. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, known as Anilca, was signed by the president in 1980.
The law may be the most significant domestic achievement of Mr. Carter's political life.
He said that the nation has never before or since preserved so much of America's natural and cultural heritage.
King Cove is 600 miles from Anchorage and is home to many Natives. It has a small gravel airfield, but villagers have to use a larger, all-weather airport on the other side of a bay.
The idea of a road from King Cove to Cold Bay was first discussed in the 1970s, since travel by small plane or boat wasn't always possible or fast enough for emergencies.
An all-weather ferry and a dedicated helicopter service were considered over the years. King Cove received millions of federal dollars to buy a fast hovercraft, and a road was built near the refuge. The hovercraft was abandoned in 2010 because it was too costly and couldn't operate in high seas or winds.
The dream remained the full road. It would have to run for at least 11 miles through the refuge, which is home to some of the world's largest beds of eelgrass.
The proposal that had made the most headway was one in which the state and the local Native village corporation would swap acres with the federal government for a corridor through the refuge.
The exchange was approved by Congress during the Obama administration, but rejected by the interior secretary after a review found it would cause irreversible damage to the refuge and its wildlife.
The land swap idea was revived by Mr. Trump's interior secretaries. Ryan Zinke made an agreement with the village corporation in 2018, but it was rejected by the courts in response to a lawsuit, and David Bernhardt made a similar deal in 2019.
A Federal District Court judge threw out the land swap in 2020. The three appeals court judges overturned this ruling in March.
The majority opinion found that the value of a road to the King Cove community outweighs the harm that it would cause to the environment.
The majority's reasoning was flawed. Mr. Carter wrote in the legal brief that Congress was designating lands for two purposes: conserve and use by rural residents. The Secretary of Interior did not have the power to consider economic and social benefits.
The president of Friends of Alaska National Wildlife refuges was blunt.
Under the law, individuals or private groups can petition to build a road, according to a lawyer with Trustees for Alaska.
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The groups were disappointed that the Biden administration had argued that the land swap was valid. The brief said that the view of the groups would restrict Interior's ability to exchange lands.
It was a surprise to see them defending the case.
The Interior Department had no comment on the issue.
The current interior secretary, Deb Haaland, visited King Cove last month, accompanied by Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican and supporter of the road. Ms. Haaland said at the news conference that she was not sure.
Marylee Yatchmeneff is the mother of three young girls. She said that her 1-year-old daughter, Evelyn, had been evacuated seven times to Cold Bay for flights to Anchorage for urgent medical care. Helicopters were called in for the flights across the bay, and once on the fishing boat.
She said that they had to wait for hours at King Cove's small clinic when the weather was good.
Opponents of the road say that it would be more dangerous than travel by air or water at night and in the winter. Improved helicopter service or a ferry would be better alternatives.
Lawyers for King Cove and the Biden administration were asked to respond to the appeal within 21 days.
Ms. Psarianos said that she was hopeful that the judges would see some of the problems with the decision.
Mr. Carter wrote that he had experienced Alaska's public lands many times. One of the most unforgettable and sobering experiences he had was his visit to the Arctic National Wildlife refuge, one of the largest expanses of wilderness in the United States.
We had hoped to see a few caribou during our trip, but to our amazement, we witnessed the migration of tens of thousands of caribou with their newborn calves.
Mr. Carter said that the significance of Anilca was beyond the protections it provided. He wrote that the law was a result of a bipartisan approach to governing.
He wrote that they brought together all stakeholders, including Democrat and Republican congressional leaders.
We achieved a practical, enduring solution. The legislative process works for the best interests of our nation.
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