Environment | Law

Judge sides with DOI in dispute over Alaska Native village road

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

A view of King Cove in Alaska. Photo from City Data

A federal judge won't force the Obama administration to rethink its denial of a road for an Alaska Native village.

King Cove, an Aleut village, sits 30 miles from the nearest air strip in Cold Bay. The only way to get there is to via boat, a trip that can take up to two hours in choppy weather [Google Maps: No Directions] or by flying.

Residents say a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge will save lives by making the journey quicker. But Interior Secretary Sally Jewell rejected the project in December 2013 due to environmental concerns.

In a 37-page decision, Judge H. Russel Holland said Jewell acted lawfully in declining to approve the road. He dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Agdaagux Tribe, the Native Village of Belkofski, the King Cove Corporation and other state and local parties.

“As long as we continue to have medevacs that endanger the lives of King Cove residents, we will continue to fight for a road,” Della Trumble, spokesperson for the King Cove Corporation, an Alaska Native village corporation, said in a press release.

In one week in July alone, three residents of King Cove had to be flown out by the Coast Guard in order to receive medical care. Since Jewell's decision to deny the road, there have been 30 medevacs from the community.

Get the Story:
Federal judge sides with Interior secretary in dispute over road through refuge (Alaska Dispatch News 9/8)
Judge rules for Jewell in King Cove road lawsuit (The Alaska Journal of Commerce 9/8)
Judge rules against road between King Cove, Cold Bay (Alaska Public Radio Network 9/8)
Judge sides with Interior secretary in refuge-road dispute (AP 9/8)