Alaska Natives explain need for road through wildlife refuge

Environment

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Alaska Natives expressed their strong support for a land swap that would authorize a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Residents of the village of King Cove say the road will help them get to the airport in Cold Bay much quicker. Currently, they must navigate often treacherous waters in times of emergency.

"While I was pregnant with my third child, I went into labor in the middle of the night," said Etta Kuzakin, the president of the Agdaagux Tribe, at a public hearing, The Dutch Harbor Fisherman reported. "Because it was too foggy and dark, I had to wait until daylight to take the hovercraft to Cold Bay where the medevac plane waited for me. Because of the long wait, I lost the baby. If there had been a road, I could have left at the first sign of labor."

Others shared similar stories. "My wife was stuck in King Cove for three days during bad weather with third-degree burns when a pressure cooker exploded," said Simeon Kuzakin, the president of the Belkofski Tribal Council, the paper reported. "She barely survived this experience."

Under the swap, the state and village corporations would transfer 61,000 acres to the the federal government. A 25-mile gravel oad would be built through the refuge.

Environmentalists oppose the project. They say construction will harm one of the most fertile wildlife breeding and feeding sites in the nation.

The swap has been controversial. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act that President Barack Obama signed into law last year included a provision to kick-start the environmental review process.

Get the Story:
Feds hear King Cove comments on proposed road (The Dutch Harbor Fisherman 5/19)

Relevant Documents:
President Obama Remarks | STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT | BACKGROUND ON THE OMNIBUS PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT ACT BILL SIGNING | Secretary Ken Salazar Remarks

Omnibus Lands Bill:
H.R.146 | S.22