The US Fish & Wildlife Service announced that it supports keeping Wilderness intact in Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. A proposed road plan involved a land swap to build a road through Wilderness between two remote Alaska villages. The refuge is part of a global Important Bird Area where hundreds of thousands of migratory birds stop to refuel during migration, including more than 90% of the Pacific Brant population. Read more.

(Photo: Pacific Brant flying over Izembek Refuge by Beth Peluso)