(SitNews) - King Cove tribal and community leaders are thanking Governor Sean Parnell after the State of Alaska announced it filed a motion yesterday to intervene in support of King Cove and the other plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed earlier this month. The state and the King Cove plaintiffs are asking the federal court to order the U.S. Interior Department to reverse its decision regarding the connector road and land exchange between the remote community and the all-weather Cold Bay airport.

“We are so appreciative of the governor’s continued support of the lives, health and safety of the King Cove people,” said Della Trumble, spokeswoman for the Agdaagux Tribe and the King Cove (Native) Corporation. “While the Secretary of the Interior seems to believe that we can’t coexist with the birds, mammals and the habitat, the Governor, a lifelong Alaskan, knows better. This is so heartening to us.”

Governor Sean Parnell announced Monday that the State of Alaska had filed a Motion to Intervene in support of the City of King Cove and other plaintiffs who are seeking to force the Department of the Interior to reconsider its decision regarding the proposed land exchange in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

“After years of putting birds over the well-being of Alaskans, it’s time for the Obama administration to agree to this exchange,” Governor Parnell said. “After all, the State of Alaska is willing to exchange more than 40,000 acres of state lands for merely nine miles of life-saving road.”

In the congressionally approved land exchange that the Interior Department rejected, the state and King Cove Corporation would have added more than 50,000 acres of state and corporate land to the refuge in exchange for 206 acres of federal land that is necessary for the road to connect King Cove to the all-weather airport in Cold Bay.

During times of severe weather, it can be extremely dangerous or impossible to transport critically ill patients from King Cove to Cold Bay by air or sea. Transport could be more safely accomplished by road to Cold Bay Airport where larger aircraft can land and safely conduct medical evacuation to locations such as Anchorage.

On June 4, 2014, King Cove (Aleut) residents, Alaska tribes and two local governments sued U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and several U.S. government officials in federal court. The lawsuit was filed because of the Department of Interior’s denial of a road to link the City of King Cove with the all-weather Cold Bay Airport, located about 25 miles away. The community is accessible only by small plane or boat, weather permitting. King Cove has been battling for the road for decades in order to medevac seriously ill or injured patients during frequent periods of bad weather. In 2009, Congress and the President approved the road and a massive land swap (56,000 acres from the State and the King Cove Corporation) in exchange for a small single-lane gravel road corridor (206 acres) to the nearby all-weather Cold Bay Airport. Following an environmental impact statement, Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell rejected the road just two days before Christmas last year.

“We still have heard nothing from the Secretary, as noted by Senator Lisa Murkowski recently,” said Aleutians East Borough Mayor Stanley Mack. “She pledged to work with us to find a reliable transportation option after denying the road. We passed the six-month anniversary of her heartless decision. Will we ever hear from her? We just don’t know. In any case, we are so thankful for the support of the Alaska Congressional delegation as well as that of the Governor.”

“We look forward to working with the State Attorney General’s office to win this lawsuit and get a decision which allows the land exchange and the life-saving road to get back on track,” said King Cove Mayor Henry Mack.

The state is joining the City of King Cove and other plaintiffs in asking the federal court to order the Interior Department to reverse its decision.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews


On the Web:

King Cove Land Exchange Fact Sheet
http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?
File_id=be8a9e00-c2f4-4937-a47a-a08092c3fa3f

A copy of the state's Motion to Intervene:
http://gov.alaska.gov/parnell_media/resources_files/mti_063014.pdf

Source of News: 

Della Trumble
Spokesperson, King Cove Corporation

Laura Tanis
Communications Mgr, Aleutians East Borough
www.aeboro.org

Office of Gov. Sean Parnell
www.gov.alaska.gov

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Ketchikan, Alaska

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