{"id":99231,"date":"2025-11-13T08:13:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=99231"},"modified":"2025-11-13T08:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:13:45","slug":"lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuits challenge land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built in an Alaska wildlife refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Becky Bohrer JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) \u2014 Alaska Native tribes and conservation groups sued the federal government Wednesday, seeking in at least three separate lawsuits to overturn a land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built through a national wildlife refuge. Legal challenges to the land exchange agreement reached last month between Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and an Alaska Native village corporation include claims that it was not properly analyzed, that it poses risks to sensitive habitats and that it could threaten migratory birds that some Alaska Natives rely on for food. King Cove, a community of about 870 people near the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, has for years pushed to have a road built through the refuge for access to an all-weather airport at Cold Bay, about&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F13%2Flawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Becky Bohrer JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) \u2014 Alaska Native tribes and conservation groups sued the federal government Wednesday, seeking in at least three separate lawsuits to overturn a land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built through a national wildlife refuge. Legal challenges to the land exchange agreement reached last month between Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and an Alaska Native village corporation include claims that it was not properly analyzed, that it poses risks to sensitive habitats and that it could threaten migratory birds that some Alaska Natives rely on for food. King Cove, a community of about 870 people near the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, has for years pushed to have a road built through the refuge for access to an all-weather airport at Cold Bay, about... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F13%2Flawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lawsuits challenge land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built in an Alaska wildlife refuge - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawsuits challenge land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built in an Alaska wildlife refuge - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Becky Bohrer JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) \u2014 Alaska Native tribes and conservation groups sued the federal government Wednesday, seeking in at least three separate lawsuits to overturn a land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built through a national wildlife refuge. Legal challenges to the land exchange agreement reached last month between Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and an Alaska Native village corporation include claims that it was not properly analyzed, that it poses risks to sensitive habitats and that it could threaten migratory birds that some Alaska Natives rely on for food. King Cove, a community of about 870 people near the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, has for years pushed to have a road built through the refuge for access to an all-weather airport at Cold Bay, about\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-13T13:13:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Lawsuits challenge land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built in an Alaska wildlife refuge\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-13T13:13:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":457,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/lawsuits-challenge-land-exchange-aimed-at-allowing-a-road-to-be-built-in-an-alaska-wildlife-refuge\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lawsuits challenge land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built in an Alaska wildlife refuge - 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