As I reported in this blog (here and here), the House and Senate had been considering a land swap bill that would build a $15.6 million, nine-mile gravel road through federally designated wilderness at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This is a project that has been heavily pushed by Alaskan lobbyists, Governor Sarah Palin, and the Alaskan congressional delegation.

In April, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed the House land swap bill — sponsored by Don Young (R-AK) — on a voice vote, meaning the votes were not recorded so that we could see how each committee member voted on this controversial bill.

Now the Senate has followed suit, determined to make all Americans pay for this road. From the National Wildlife Refuge Association:

September 11, 2008 - the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced S. 1680 by attaching the measure to over 50 other public lands bills. These are expected to join 98 other bills already reported out of the committee earlier this year to create a massive public lands package. The House Natural Resources Committee approved the measure on April 23rd; the next action in the House could be with the full chamber or like in the Senate, the version could be attached to the larger lands package. NWRA and our conservation partners will be actively working to remove the Izembek road proposal from the larger package.

As for the history of this project, the NWRA reports:

The proposed road would connect the two small villages of King Cove (population 800) and Cold Bay (population 80). In 1998, advocates argued they needed a road through the fragile wilderness, but Congress ruled that such a road was not in the public interest. They instead gave the Alaskans $37.5 million to address their concerns with funding to upgrade medical facilities, upgrade the airport and to build a state of the art hovercraft that would be able to transport people in a medical emergency.

More than $25 million has already been spent on construction of a road connecting King Cove to a hovercraft terminal conveniently situated at the wilderness doorstep. Steep slopes and unstable volcanic soils have forced re-routing and contributed to construction delays and escalating costs amounting to $2 million per mile. Extending the road, in some of the harshest weather conditions in America, is expected to cost you, the American taxpayer, at least $30 million more.

Furthermore, the hovercraft, which travels on a cushion of air up to 58 MPH across water, ice and land is up and running and has so far transported more than 1090 passengers, 110 vehicles and at least 32 successful medivacs.

It’s important to note that Alaska has one of the wealthiest state governments in America. Due to tremendous oil and gas royalties, the citizens pay no sales tax or income tax, and receive an annual stipend just for living there — this year it was $3200 for every eligible man, woman, and child. In addition, Alaska leads the nation in earmark requests, with Governor Sarah Palin asking for funds for special projects this year totaling $198 million, or about $295 per person.

Governor Sarah Palin likes to say she once told congressional appropriators “no thanks.” Now it’s time for her to actually do it.

Call your senators and congressional representatives today and tell them to say “no thanks” to the new “Road to Nowhere.” Visit Congress.org to find the contact information for your senators and representatives. Then call their DC office and tell them to prevent passage of any bill that allows a road to be built through the wilderness of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Tags:
wildlife, wildlife refuge, conservation, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska