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Alaska's Young wants to swap refuge acres for new road |
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Alaska's lone congressman yesterday offered to add more than 61,000
acres to two federal wildlife refuges in the state, in exchange for the
right to build a road to connect a pair of remote villages.
Reviving a debate thought settled nine years ago, Rep. Don Young
(R-Alaska) introduced a bill yesterday that would add 61,723 acres of
wildlife habitat to the Izembek and nearby Alaska Peninsula refuges. Of
that land, 45,493 acres would be designated as wilderness.
In exchange, the Fish and Wildlife Service would transfer
about 206 acres of land in the Izembek refuge to the state for the
construction of a seven-mile-long road to connect the remote villages
of King Cove and Cold Bay.
Though Cold Bay's population is a tenth of King Cove's 800
residents, the town has the third-largest airport in the state, making
it the regional gateway to Anchorage, Juneau and the rest of the
outside world. But the two villages are cut off from each other because
the refuge encompasses the entire isthmus of land connecting them.
"We deserve this road," said King Cove Mayor Ernest Weiss.
"The people of King Cove only want permission to have access to a
right-of-way road leading to the world-class airfield in Cold Bay."
King Cove can access Cold Bay via aircraft and boat, but
frequent inclement weather often makes either option treacherous. The
road, officials say, would ensure a safe mode of transport for King
Cove and Cold Bay, especially during medical emergencies.
"This is a common-sense solution to a problem that should have
been corrected many years ago," Young said in a statement announcing
the bill.
Previous attempts to build a road through the refuge have
failed because of possible damage to the wetlands that are a hub for
migratory waterfowl in the Pacific Ocean. The latest attempt in 1998
resulted in funds for a hovercraft to connect the two communities, but
that option was deemed too expensive.
Officials, including Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), hope the
state's offer of land and to foot the bill for its construction will
curry enough favor with Congress to permit the land exchange.
Yet Nicole Whittington-Evans, associate regional director for
the Alaska regional office for the Wilderness Society, said the
wetlands within the isthmus are the most significant assets of the
refuge. The entire Pacific brant population and the world's population
of emperor geese depend on the refuge and eelgrass beds in Izembek
Lagoon and smaller Kinzarof Lagoon for their yearly migrations.
"No other exchange lands could really mitigate the loss of this high-quality habitat," she said.
Bruce Woods, a FWS spokesperson in Alaska, said the agency
would examine the proposal closely to determine the ecological value of
the offered land and whether the road would be in the best interest of
the refuge and the American people. "That would be the lens that we
will look at this at," Woods said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) office is still working on
the details of the Senate version of the legislation. It is unknown
when the Senate version will be introduced.
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