AK HJR6

Expresses Alaska Legislature's support for federal legislation (S. 101 and H.R. 218) that would authorize construction of a single-lane gravel road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge connecting King Cove to Cold Bay Airport.

Road would be 12.5 miles long requiring only 206 acres (0.06 percent) of the 315,000-acre refuge, providing access to Cold Bay's all-weather airport located less than 30 miles from King Cove.

King Cove's airstrip is unusable approximately 100 days per year due to severe weather, and medical emergencies require evacuation over 600 miles to Anchorage; over past three decades 11 people died in flights and 8 died due to weather-delayed medical transport.

Land exchange provision was included in Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 and unanimously approved by Alaska Legislature in 2010, but former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell refused to authorize the road on December 23, 2015.

Urges U.S. Senate and House to pass measures swiftly to enable improved life and safety conditions for King Cove residents after more than 30 years of community campaigning for the road.