KENAI -- Federal wildlife authorities are criticizing a city of Kenai proposal for a road aimed at upgrading access to the southern mouth of the Kenai River.
The proposed 1,500-foot gravel road through a city-owned wetland is aimed at improving access for summer dipnet fishermen.
Most fishermen use a road that requires them to drive along a beach through private property.
The Peninsula Clarion, a Kenai newspaper, reports the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is criticizing the proposed route through a wetland.
The federal agency says a road in the location would encroach on a rich, ecologically sensitive, wetland that hosts spring and fall migrations of geese, ducks and many species of shorebirds.
The city needs an Army Corps of Engineers permit and the Corps is collecting comment on the proposal.