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Trump signs order to facilitate King Cove road

The end of the road leading out of King Cove. June 2024
Theo Greenly
/
KUCB
The order calls for development of a road from King Cove to Cold Bay and much more. It covers nearly every major land-use controversy in Alaska this century.

On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order that aims to undo most of his predecessor’s work on Alaska energy and environmental issues. The order entitled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” was among dozens Trump signed.

“So we’re opening up ANWR,” Trump said at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

The order calls for new leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and much more. It covers nearly every major land-use controversy in Alaska this century.

It says the government will:

  • prioritize the development of Alaska’s natural gas “including the permitting of all necessary pipeline and export infrastructure related to the Alaska LNG Project.”
  • facilitate development of a road from King Cove to Cold Bay.
  • reinstate the Trump administration’s approval of the Ambler Road.
  • reinstate his administration’s development plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

It does not mention the proposed Pebble Mine, at least not by name.

Alaska’s all-Republican delegation to Congress praised the natural resources order, but not another order that would restore the name McKinley to the mountain now named Denali.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski publicly objected to the name change.

“Our nation’s tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial,” she wrote in a post on X.

Many of Trump’s actions are certain to be challenged in court on grounds that they defy laws Congress passed.

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  • For decades, King Cove’s roughly 800 residents have called for a road they say could save lives in emergencies. Neither city has a hospital, so residents rely on medical evacuations to reach Anchorage for urgent medical care. The Biden administration last week endorsed the proposal, recommending a land exchange with King Cove’s Native corporation so the road can be built. But that road would go through a federally protected wilderness area. While residents argue it’s a matter of life and death, environmental advocates say the road could threaten vital wildlife habitat — and set a dangerous precedent.
  • The military team used explosives to dispose of the munition where it was found — in the middle of the 315,000 acre refuge, which contains one of the world’s largest eelgrass beds.
  • A federal appeals court last week reversed a decision that had impeded construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The proposed road would stretch 11 miles through the wildlife refuge on the Alaska Peninsula, connecting the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay. The project has been held up in the courts since 2020, when a judge blocked a land exchange necessary for the road’s construction. But the court decided last Wednesday to reverse that judge’s decision that prevented the swap between King Cove’s Native corporation and the federal government. Supporters of the road say it will save lives. The small airport in King Cove is closed due to weather around 100 days a year, on average. Advocates say connecting King Cove to the much larger airport in Cold Bay would make emergency medical care more accessible for residents of the small community in the Aleutians East Borough.