Tuesday, March 18, 2014, Juneau, Alaska – The Alaska House of Representatives today passed a resolution by Rep. Bob Herron urging U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to reconsider the Izembek Land Exchange denial.

House Joint Resolution 30 calls on Secretary Jewell to take into consideration King Cove residents’ needs for modest road access to the Cold Bay Airport, located across the Kinzarof Lagoon, for life, health and safety reasons.

“The Congress acted five years ago to approve the exchange, yet we’re no closer today than we ever have been due to the ill-informed decision from Secretary Jewell,” Herron, D-South Bering Sea, said. “She came to King Cove, to a packed gym, and listened to the outcry from the kids, then went to the community center and listened to the adults. After taking that all in, she said she would have to take all of the input back and that she’d ‘listened and learned and now she’ll have to listen to the animals.’ Her off-handed comment is ironic.

“She is so insensitive to the needs of Alaskans, the needs of our community that you could have knocked me over with a feather,” Herron said. “I agree with our senior U.S. Senator, Lisa Murkowski. She called her heartless. She cares not for the safety of our people, which is contra to the federal requirement for taking the human impact of a decision into the equation. She’s violated the Trust Responsibilities for Alaska Natives. She can do the right thing, and reconsider her decision based on the agency’s own requirements and the technical and procedural deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Statement.”

The State and King Cove Corporation agreed to exchange 61,000 acres to the federal government for 206 acres to construct a one-lane gravel access road between King Cove and Cold Bay. The Congress approved the exchange in 2009 as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, and the legislature approved the exchange in 2010. Since, Interior has stalled scuttled the plan. The latest step, Secretary Jewell siding with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service over the concerns and needs of King Cove, led to the resolution.

HJR 30 now moves to the Alaska Senate for consideration.