U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski addresses reporters during a news conference following her speech to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski addresses reporters during a news conference following her speech to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Murkowski blasts federal rejection of refuge road

  • By Becky Bohrer
  • Wednesday, February 19, 2014 11:39pm
  • News

JUNEAU — The Interior Department’s rejection of a road through a national wildlife refuge that could aid patients in a small Alaska village is emblematic of a bigger problem between the state and federal government, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told state lawmakers Wednesday.

In December, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell rejected a proposed land swap to build a gravel road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, which shelters millions of migratory waterfowl.

Residents of King Cove want road access to an all-weather airport at Cold Bay for medical flights.

Murkowski, a Republican, told lawmakers there was more at stake than just a road. She said Jewell’s decision was emblematic of how “the federal government believes that it has to somehow protect Alaska from Alaskans. That we can’t be counted on to be good stewards of the land that we have fought for and we have worked for and we have raised our children up to honor and respect.”

Environmental groups bitterly oppose the road, noting that Congress in 1997 addressed King Cove transportation needs and appropriated $37.5 million for water access to Cold Bay that included a $9 million hovercraft. They also contend a road is just as likely as air transportation to be closed by the area’s notorious winds and snow.

Murkowski, however, said to applause that the only thing standing in the way of a road is a federal government that says, “somehow, we need to make sure that every bird is protected before the lives of Alaskans will be protected. That’s wrong. That is absolutely wrong.”

Murkowski told reporters later that she would continue to press the case with Jewell and was even considering holding up nominations by the administration.

She said she has heard people in Washington make the argument about the road being closed by snow. “That only happens in Washington, D.C.,” she quipped.

A major theme of Murkowski’s address to a joint session of the Legislature was federal overreach and restrictions.

She told lawmakers the state must be aggressive in developing lands where it has some control, and that she admired lawmakers’ “courage” in passing an oil tax cut last year that she said promotes investment.

She told reporters that the tax cut was about making Alaska competitive with other oil-producing areas. Voters in August will decide whether to repeal the hotly debated tax cut, which critics see as a giveaway to the industry with no guarantee about what Alaska will get in return.

Murkowski said the Legislature has taken serious steps to try to boost oil flow through the trans-Alaska pipeline system and that it is long past time for the federal government to do the same.

While the Interior Department has sold leases in Arctic waters off Alaska, it has not yet shown that it actually wants development to occur, the senator said.

Restrictions on roads in Tongass National Forest are choking the last of southeast Alaska’s timber industry and limiting the ability to build out renewable energy resources, Murkowski added.

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read