The Department of Interior has reached an agreement to transfer ownership of a swath of land in Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to build a road between King Cove and an all-weather airport in Cold Bay.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Republican leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hailed the land transfer as a needed step to build the “life-saving road.”
“Above all, the federal government’s job is to keep our people safe and respect our treaty commitments with Native Americans and Alaska Natives, today I am proudly fulfilling both of those missions,” Zinke said. “Previous administrations prioritized birds over human lives, and that’s just wrong. The people of King Cove have been stewarding the land and wildlife for thousands of years and I am confident that working together we will be able to continue responsible stewardship while also saving precious lives.”
The airstrip in King Cove, which is located between volcanic mountains on Alaska’s peninsula, is closed due to weather conditions for more than 100 days per year. The new road will provide a direct route to the all-weather airport that’s 30 miles away in Cold Bay.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chairman of the committee, said common sense had finally prevailed after decades of King Cove residents asking for a “reliable way to protect their health and safety and improve their quality of life.”
“Previous administrations have focused on just about everything except the most obvious solution, which has always been a short, gravel connector road,” Murkowski said. “ I am so pleased for King Cove and deeply grateful to Secretary Zinke and President Trump for taking this critical step.”
However, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) decried the land transfer as evidence of what she calls Zinke’s “continued willingness to ignore the law. “
“This proposed land exchange is not consistent with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and is contrary to the Department of the Interior’s own findings after a lengthy and transparent environmental review that the exchange is not in the public interest,” Cantwell said. “I expect (Monday’s) decision, like many of Secretary Zinke’s other attempts to give away the public trust, will be challenged and overturned in federal court.”