The photo above shows an aerial view of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. A deal has been struck to build a controversial road through its wetlands.

(Alaska Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

At a Glance

Officials have reached an agreement about constructing a controversial road in an Alaskan wildlife refuge. Environmentalists argue the roadway will harm the refuge's wildlife and ecology. Local officials argue it's necessary for transporting residents during medical emergencies. The agreement has not yet been signed.

An agreement has been reached to build a controversial roadway through an Alaskan wildlife refuge, possibly ending a years-long battle.

The Interior Department will be approving a land swap that will allow the remote Alaskan town of King Cove to , The Washington Post reports.

Officials are expected to sign the agreement this month, which will allow the King Cove Corporation to , according to The New York Times.

The exchange overturns a 2013 decision from Sally Jewell, former President Barack Obama’s interior secretary, who determined that .

Since the refuge was first established by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1980, a majority of its 315,000 acres have been designated as wilderness areas, and motorized vehicles are typically prohibited in these spots.

Despite the wetlands’ protections, the small town has spent years rallying for the right to build a single-lane road through the refuge into the town of Cold Bay, where there’s an all-weather airport that can fly patients to hospitals in Anchorage.

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Local officials argue that the road would have a minimal impact and only 10 to 15 vehicles will travel on it daily, which could include employees traveling to work at a seafood cannery in the town, according to The Washington Post.

“A person is a person, if it’s a cannery worker trying to get to King Cove or an Aleut trying to get to either Cold Bay or King Cove,” City Administrator Gary Hennigh told The Post. “This will significantly improve the quality of our life and give us access to the outside world.”

Environmentalists have continued to rally against the construction of the road.

Wilderness Society Alaska Regional Director Nicole Whittington-Evans said it would be a disaster for the wildlife living there and that the Army Corps of Engineers had come up with an option to transport people by marine ferry, which would be more reliable and ecologically sound, The New York Times reports.

Before the road, the federal government spent over $50 million on a telemedicine clinic and hovercraft able to make it from King Cove to Cold Bay in 20 minutes, reports the Post.

Center for Biological Diversity public lands program director Randi Spivak said the wetlands are crucial for the world’s population of black brant geese and no land exchange would make up for the loss.

“In terms of a land swap, you can’t exchange it acre for acre,” Spivak told The New York Times. “You can’t manufacture this kind of habitat. You can’t have a sign that says, ‘Hey, birds, fly this way.’”

Currently, , according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Though they’re relatively tolerant of disturbance from humans, they are vulnerable to disturbances from vehicles. They are also threatened by alteration and shifting of their habitats.

“Bulldozing a road through the heart of the refuge violates federal laws designed to protect Alaska’s pristine wild places,” Spivak told The Post. “Once it’s destroyed, we’ll never get it back.”