A road that would give people access to medical care (via The Lonely Conservative)
(CNS News) Environmental priorities have trumped the medical concerns of a small Alaskan community.
After four years of study, the Obama administration has decided on that the isolated community of King Cove, Alaska may not build a 22-mile, single-lane gravel road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to the town of Cold Bay.
The decision, announced on Dec. 23 by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, has infuriated the people of King Cove, where the proposed road has been discussed since the 1980s.
The road would have given them access to emergency medical and other services by way of the all-weather airport at Cold Bay.
“Are birds really more important than people? It seems so hard to believe that the federal government finds it impossible to accommodate both wildlife and human beings,” the Associated Press quoted Aleutians East Borough Mayor Stanley Mack as saying.
In exchange for the 200 acres needed for the road, the state of Alaska and the King Cove Corp. would have added 55,000 acres to the refuge.
“I am angry. I am disappointed. I am frustrated. I am sad for the people of King Cove,” the newspaper quoted Murkowski as saying. “Four thousand miles from where they’re sitting, somebody has said you can’t have a 10-mile, one-lane, non-commercial-use road so you can access the second longest runway in the state of Alaska to get out for medical reasons.”
Well, yeah, the birds are more important in this case, as The Lonely Conservative points out
This is the same administration that has no problem with solar panels burning birds or windmills hacking them to pieces.
There are other methods for folks to get medical and other care, but this small, 10 mile road would be a lifeline for these citizens. I’m all for wildlife refuges, protecting the majesty and beauty of nature. One road won’t hurt.
Just set up some windmills and designate it a windfarm. Next build your road right trough it, no problem.