ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20034
No(s). 20-35721, 20-35727, and 20-35728 (9th Cir. Mar 16, 2022)

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, reversed a district court ruling that set aside a land exchange agreement between the Secretary of the Interior and an Alaska Native village company that wished to build a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to allow access to a nearby city. The district court had held the agreement failed to advance the stated purposes of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), that the secretary's decision to enter into the agreement failed to provide adequate reasoning for departing from the position of his predecessor in favor of the exchange, and that the secretary failed to follow ANILCA's procedural requirements concerning approval of transportation systems. The appellate court disagreed, finding that the secretary appropriately weighed the economic and social needs of Alaskans against ANILCA's other purposes, that he provided sufficient justification for his conclusion that the value of the road outweighed the harm it would cause to environmental interests, and that he did not have to follow the requirements for approving transportation systems because the agreement did not authorize construction of a road within a conservation system unit. It reversed and remanded.