King Cove, AK – The King Cove Group (King Cove Corporation, Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove, Native Village of Belkofski, City of King Cove and the Aleutians East Borough) provided the following statement on the Ninth Circuit Court decision published Thursday.

As former U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt recognized, this is a health and safety access issue and is the paramount reason the King Cove Land Exchange is needed now. This matter also remains a Native social justice issue. We are intent on protecting the lives and rights of the Aleut (Alaska Native) people and our tribal members. 

“We are angered by the court decision yesterday,” said Della Trumble, CEO of the King Cove (Alaska Native) Corporation. “We believe the land exchange is still legal and valid. As Native people, we will continue to fight for our rights and demand tribal consultation, which the Department of Interior (DOI) failed to honor before executing its March 14, 2023 decision to terminate the Land Exchange,” she said.

We are also angered by the Interior’s unjust decision withdrawing from the 2019 Land Exchange, which requires us to begin the process for obtaining safe, reliable and affordable access to emergency medical care all over again,” she said.

On May 16, 2022, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt correctly approved a land exchange between the U.S. Interior Department and King Cove’s Alaska Native village corporation. On April 30^th,  Attorneys from Trustees for Alaska, the firm representing nine environmental groups, filed a petition for review of the ruling. On Nov. 10, 2022, the Court of Appeals vacated a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel ruling in favor of the exchange, and ordered a rehearing (en banc) by a larger panel of judges. On March 14, 2023, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland withdrew from the land exchange authorized by then-Secretary David Bernhardt in 2019.

On June 15, 2023, Chief Judge Mary Margua of the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals granted DOI’s motion to dismiss the case.  However, this motion also vacated the 2020 decision by District Court Judge Sedwick that the 2019 Land Exchange was invalid. Consequently, yesterday’s 9th Circuit Court decision means the 2019 Land Exchange Agreement remains valid. According to the King Cove Group’s attorneys, the land exchange agreement can only change if a future court rules favorably on Secretary Haaland’s decision to withdraw. 

The communities of King Cove and Cold Bay were separated in 1980 when President Carter – without consulting local residents – created the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. King Cove’s roughly 1,000 residents have been trying to reestablish access ever since. In the ensuing years, 18 deaths have been associated with the lack of land access, either due to plane crashes or an inability to reach timely medical treatment. Since 2013, there have been 206 medical evacuations from King Cove.

For more information about King Cove, visit: https://www.aleutianseast.org/project/king-cove-access-project/

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