Three Native Villages and Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWs) challenging an October 2025 land exchange agreement that would facilitate construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The complaint asserted that the defendants violated the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, NEPA, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Endangered Species Act. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants did not complete an EIS or otherwise comply with NEPA’s mandates, noting that the decision document stated that a NEPA analysis was not required or necessary but that the Secretary had nevertheless reviewed information from a 2024 draft supplemental EIS. Regarding the Endangered Species Act, they alleged that the biological opinion for the land exchange failed to employ the proper jeopardy analysis for Alaska-breeding Steller’s eiders and the southwest Alaska distinct population segment of northern sea otter, including because the analysis failed to add the road’s direct and indirect effects “to all other activities and influences that affect the species, including effects from climate change and development outside of Izembek.” The complaint’s allegations included statements regarding climate change-related stressors to these species.

Lawsuit challenging an October 2025 land exchange agreement that would facilitate construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Native Village of Hooper Bay v. Burgum

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Lawsuit in Alaska Federal Court Challenged Land Exchange Agreement for Road Through Wildlife Refuge

Filed

United States of America

Alaska

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Lawsuit in Alaska Federal Court Challenged Land Exchange Agreement for Road Through Wildlife Refuge

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance