Raúl Grijalva: “Today we are being asked to mandate a land exchange that will put a road through a designated wilderness area inside the…”

“Today we are being asked to mandate a land exchange that will put a road through a designated wilderness area inside the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. If that sounds familiar, that is because we have been down this road before. After years of prodding from the Alaska delegation, the Public Land Management Act of 2009 authorized this exchange and the eventual construction of the road. However, that 2009 authorization was contingent upon a determination by the Secretary of the Interior that the road was in the public interest. The Fish and Wildlife Service then spent nearly 5 years preparing a full environmental impact statement in order to analyze the environmental impacts of the proposed road, and to determine if viable alternatives existed. During the lengthy and public process, the agency held 130 public meetings, reviewed thousands of public comments, 97 percent of which were opposed to the road. Ultimately, the Interior Department determined that building a road through the one-of-a-kind wilderness area is not justified because it will destroy an irreplaceable ecosystem, and there are other ways to improve transportation in the area. This is not just a simple trail through the woods. It is a road through a narrow chain of islands and lagoons. Its construction requires the development of bridges, installation of culverts and pipes, and the dredge and fill of nearly 4 acres of wetlands.…”