Proposed King Cove road settlement spurs controversy

ANCHORAGE - A proposal for settling a dispute over a road link for King Cove has run into turbulence, with environmental groups saying it goes too far and village residents complaining that it doesn't go far enough.

• Photos

Residents of King Cove, an Aleut fishing village of 750 on the Gulf of Alaska coast, want a road to nearby Cold Bay for medical, economic and social reasons but can't have it. Roads are prohibited in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, which lies between the two communities. Conservation groups fear that if Congress allows a road through Izembek, roads through other wilderness areas will follow.

As a compromise, Congress in 1998 agreed to Sen. Ted Stevens' demand to provide alternative access for King Cove. The special appropriation includes $20 million to plan and build a year-round, vehicle-accessible transportation link, plus another $17.5 million for airport and health clinic improvements.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are taking public comment on an Aleutians East Borough proposal to build a 17-mile, one-lane gravel road from King Cove to the refuge boundary and use a large hovercraft to carry passengers and vehicles about eight miles to the community of Cold Bay.

Public reception has been cool. At recent public hearings, many residents grudgingly supported the hovercraft plan. Aleutians East Borough Mayor Stanley Mack spoke for many when he called it "a great starting point." But the ultimate goal, he said at the King Cove hearing, is a road through the Izembek refuge.

Several residents recalled plane crashes that occurred when people tried to fly out of King Cove in marginal weather, such as during medical evacuations. Others mentioned being stuck for as long as five days, waiting for the weather to lift so the airplanes could fly. To many of them, even a hovercraft is questionable access when the seas are high or frozen over.

Conservation groups are just as adamant on the other side. They fought the Izembek road proposal when it went before Congress in 1998 and are not giving up now, said Nicole Whittington-Evans of The Wilderness Society.

"Izembek is an extraordinary place, with wildlife, wilderness and wetlands values," she said. "It is considered one of the most striking wilderness areas in the Northern Hemisphere."

Her group and the Sierra Club of Alaska testified in Anchorage that the proposed road to the northeast corner of Cold Bay not only would provide a jump-off point for a full road across the refuge but would create significant environmental impacts itself by requiring more gravel fill material, culverts and bridges than other alternatives.

Environmental groups favor the two alternatives that require a road only as far as Lenard Harbor, less than six miles from King Cove. They argue that King Cove residents are served just as well from Lenard Harbor and at half the cost. Shortening the road drops the price from as high as $23.4 million to as little as $10 million. They also contend that the longer road would expose King Cove residents to greater danger and would be difficult to maintain in winter.

After the public comment period closes Sept. 23, the Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Service each must decide whether to approve the preferred alternative or to require additional mitigation measures. The decision could come as soon as October.