Frustrated by the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) decision to ignore the public safety of Alaskans and reject a land exchange to facilitate a road linking the community of King Cove to the all-weather airport in Cold Bay, U.S. Senator Mark Begich today introduced legislation that would mandate the exchange and allow the State of Alaska to build the road.
“After hearing first-hand about the tragic consequences of critically ill people being transported through 12-foot seas to get medical care, their decision to put wildlife ahead of public safety was simply irresponsible,” said Sen. Begich. “Even after visiting King Cove and being stranded in inclement weather themselves, DOI bureaucrats have failed to recognize Alaska’s unique needs.”
After DOI’s December decision against the road, Sen. Begich vowed to introduce legislation as soon as the Congress reconvened in January. His bill mandates an exchange of lands proposed by the State of Alaska and local Native corporations in order for the state to receive title to a road corridor through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. This will allow the State to build a one-lane gravel road, providing residents of King Cove secure, year-round access to critical medical care. King Cove residents for years have lobbied for the road.
“Residents of King Cove have lived in this area for hundreds of years before the creation of the refuge in 1980. They’ve taken good care of their backyard, and if they’re willing to give up such an overwhelming amount of their land claims to build a simple one-lane gravel road, Washington shouldn’t stand in the way.”
The legislation would convey 206 acres of federal land in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to the State of Alaska to build an approximately 20-mile long, one-lane, gravel road. In exchange, the federal government would receive 43,093 acres adjacent to the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife from the State of Alaska and 13,300 acres from King Cove Corporation to be added to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. In addition, the King Cove Corporation would also relinquish its selection of 5,430 acres inside the Izembek National Widlife Refuge.
“This is the deal the delegation and I voted for in 2009. It was a good deal then, and I’m sticking by it.”
Begich voted for this exchange in 2009 as part of the Omnibus Public Lands Act of 2009. Under the terms of that act, DOI released a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) recommending a “no build alternative” in February 2013. In late December, also as part of the process required by the act, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell halted the land exchange through a “public interest determination” and prevented the road.
