INTERIOR DEPARTMENT

Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced a land exchange agreement Thursday with King Cove’s Native corporation, making way for the controversial construction of what many consider to be a lifesaving stretch of road.

Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, made no commitments to building a road long sought by residents that would cut through a national wildlife refuge on the Alaska Peninsula. But she listened intently on a whirlwind day of flights, tours and meetings.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason has thrown out the Interior Department's land exchange agreement for the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge — the…