Oppose Draft Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Winter Access
Notice of Availability; Draft Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Winter Access Across Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Fish and Wildlife Service· Arctic National Wildlife RefugeFederal Register 2026-01252 ↗
The groups on this fight
4 groups predicted likely to care in Alaska
Predicted likely to care is a guess from footprint in Alaska, by the same match the STAND matchmaker runs, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Alaska Wilderness League
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Alaska: built around defending the Arctic Refuge from oil and gas drilling.
- Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Alaska: lead plaintiff in the November 2025 federal suit challenging the land exchange signed to put a road through the Izembek Wilderness.
- Northern Alaska Environmental Center
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Alaska: first-named plaintiff in Northern Alaska Environmental Center v. Trump, the Ambler road suit filed in 2020.
- Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Alaska: southeast Alaska’s homegrown defender of the Tongass since 1970.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a Draft Environmental Assessment for a proposed 20-year right-of-way permit that would allow the Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation to build and use an annual winter snow trail across Arctic National Wildlife Refuge lands. The trail would connect the western Refuge boundary to KIC's private inholdings near Kaktovik for transporting heavy equipment and supplies. The public, Tribal governments, and local, state, and federal agencies are invited to comment on the draft EA.
In the agency’s own words
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA), as amended, along with other laws as applicable, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), announce availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (draft EA) to evaluate the effects associated with an access to inholdings request under ANILCA 1110(b) from the Kaktovik I[ntilde]upiat Corporation (KIC). KIC seeks a 20-year right-of-way (ROW) permit for certain Refuge lands located between the western boundary of the Refuge and KIC's inholdings near the communi…
The reporting behind this
From More Than Just ParksAfter more than a decade chasing peak color across America, we built the foliage map we always wanted.
More logging. Fewer protections for big trees, roadless country and wildlife. Another sweeping change to America’s public lands is moving fast.
The administration went looking for a sliver of Yosemite for a private developer and finally convinced the rest of public-lands world that if Yosemite is negotiable, nothing is safe.
More actions that need you
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