Today Secretary of interior Salazar announced he would delay the final decision on a proposed road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. This means the preferred alternative—no road—won’t be finalized before he leaves office.

In some years, virtually all of the world's Pacific Brant and Emperor Geese stop at Izembek to feed and rest. Both species are important for a subsistence way of life for residents of more than 40 traditional villages across the Yukon and Kuskokwim River Delta in western Alaska, a region the size of Oregon. Residents from the region have had concerns about development in wintering habitat such as Izembek.

Read Audubon Alaska's reaction in this E&E article.

(Emperor Goose photo by Donna Dewhurst, US Fish & Wildlife Service)