Politics

Izembek road opponents struggle to shine light on Interior Department plans

WASHINGTON — Opponents of a longtime effort to build a road from King Cove to Cold Bay — through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge — say they are struggling to illuminate the Interior Department's current legal path toward allowing the road.

The Interior Department is considering an administrative process that would allow a land swap between the King Cove Corp. and the federal government so that the road can be built. At the same time, members of Alaska's congressional delegation are still seeking a legislative solution, which would exchange land between the federal and state governments.

But opponents of the road argue that documents recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request show that the agency is not looking to make the specifics of its plans public any time soon.

The Interior Department declined to answer specific questions about the legal steps required to approve the road, or a timeline for doing so.

"The Alaska Congressional Delegation, Governor, Mayor of King Cove, King Cove Native Corporation, and affiliated Alaska native tribal entities have asked us to consider a small land exchange to build a life saving road for aeromedical evacuations from King Cove to the all weather airport at Cold Bay," said Alex Hinson, deputy press secretary for the Interior Department in an email. "We do not comment on pre-decisional negotiations."

Della Trumble, spokeswoman for the King Cove Corp., also declined to discuss current negotiations, referring questions to the Interior Department.

The 900 or so people of King Cove, in the Aleutians East Borough, have long sought permission to build a roughly 10-mile gravel road through Izembek to reach Cold Bay. While flying in and out of King Cove can be extremely dangerous during much of the year, Cold Bay has one of the state's largest runways — a well-kept relic of World War II.

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[RelatedCan the isolated Alaska Peninsula town of King Cove get its road under the Trump administration?]

The federal government has spent millions of dollars in pursuit of an alternative to a road through the sensitive habitat. King Cove residents say that it's their only hope for saving lives and avoiding costly and dangerous airlifts — sometimes provided by the Coast Guard — for injured and sick residents seeking medical aid.

During the Obama administration, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell declined a request to build the road, citing a potentially disastrous environmental impact for the many migrating birds and other wildlife that depend on the refuge.

A Washington Post story last week drew national attention to something that has been clear to Alaskans for the better part of a year: that the Trump administration's Interior Department favors overturning the Obama administration's ruling blocking a road.

In July, Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift told Alaska Dispatch News that the department is considering both congressional and administrative options for building the road.

The project has been a front-line focus for Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski for years, and she heads both the Senate committee that oversees the work of the Interior Department and the subcommittee that oversees its budget. She has raised the issue publicly with Secretary Ryan Zinke repeatedly.

Now, environmental groups find themselves flat-footed as they try to foresee what legal authority, process and procedures the Interior Department might use to approve a land swap and begin construction on a road.

They worry that with a conscious effort to suppress public engagement, opponents could wake up to an announcement that the swap has happened and a road is being built, said Patrick Lavin, Alaska representative for the Defenders of Wildlife.

Defenders of Wildlife, which opposes building a new road through the refuge, obtained the FOIA documents that prompted the Washington Post's story.

Given concerns by road opponents of behind-the-scenes dealmaking, several House Democrats are looking for more information on the Interior Department's process.

Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, and A. Donald McEachin, D-Virginia, wrote to Zinke asking for more information about the Interior Department's authority to make changes to prior decisions opposing the road.

"It is not clear that the Secretary of the Interior has the authority to conduct this land transfer," the pair wrote, citing the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.

Prior environmental reviews have found that the road "would do irreparable ecological damage to the refuge and the wildlife species that depend on its unique habitat," the letter said.

Grijalva and McEachin asked Zinke to report back to the committee with information as to the department's legal authority, plans for a land exchange, and intentions for the road — whether it should be allowed for commercial use.

"Does the Department plan to conduct an environmental review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act? What opportunities will the public have to comment on a potential transfer?" the letter asks.

Calculations made by green groups as to the steps needed to enact a transfer show numerous processes that could take more than six years to complete. But it is unclear if the department plans to take all those steps, or just alter the end outcome of prior intensive environmental reviews completed under the Obama administration.

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan reacted to the Washington Post story last week with exasperation, and argued that Jewell could have allowed the building of a road during her tenure. "It's a dirt road!" he exclaimed. The narrative, he argued, is "just so overly wrought" and "doesn't give any credence to the people that live there."

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Nicole Daigle, Murkowski's energy committee spokeswoman, said that "the Trump administration is engaged and working to find a solution, whether that be legislative or administrative in nature, and we greatly appreciate it."

"The Alaska delegation has worked hard to ensure that President Trump, Secretary Zinke, and many other officials understand the need for reliable transportation options for King Cove, particularly during medical emergencies," Daigle said. "It is a night-and-day difference compared to the last administration, which promised to help but left the people of King Cove to suffer."

Alaska Rep. Don Young's spokesman Matt Shuckerow said the congressman is open to a legislative or administrative route to building the road. Young passed a land-exchange bill through the House in July, but it has not yet moved in the traditionally more intransigent Senate.

Erica Martinson

Erica Martinson is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News based in Washington, D.C.

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