"Residents have long sought a gravel road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, which they say will allow them to get medical help during difficult winters."

"A federal judge in Alaska this week struck down the Trump administration’s decision to green-light a land exchange that had paved the way for a 10.5-mile road to be blazed through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Judge Sharon Gleason, an Obama appointee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, said in a Monday decision the administration committed several unlawful errors in its land-swap approval last year.

The deal was prompted by a decades-long push from locals in the remote coastal region to build a road from the community of King Cove to the town of Cold Bay, more than 18 miles away, where an all-weather airport could ferry sick or injured people to hospitals."

Heather Richards reports for E&E News August 18, 2026.

SEE ALSO:

"Court Blocks Road Through Alaskan Wildlife Refuge" (New York Times)