WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today issued the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the rejection of a life-saving road for King Cove, Alaska. The single-lane, gravel, restricted-use road would connect the isolated village with the all-weather airport at nearby Cold Bay, but was formally denied by the Department of the Interior on December 23, 2013. 

“I will never forget the call I received from Secretary Jewell one year ago today. I was sitting in the parking lot of a Fred Meyer in Anchorage when she told me she had rejected the life-saving road for the people of King Cove. Words cannot express the shock and anger I felt at that time – and that I still feel today.  

“The only thing more devastating than the initial decision is what we have seen since it was made: nothing. A full year later, we have still seen nothing but excuses from the Interior Department. Our requests to reverse this terrible decision have been ignored, promises to come up with alternatives remain unfulfilled, and officials refuse to even travel to King Cove to explain their decision firsthand. As frustrating as this is for all who support the road, it is downright dangerous for the people who actually need it.

“I recently asked Secretary Jewell if she knew how many emergency medevacs there were in King Cove this year. She did not. The answer is 16 – including six medical evacuations that required the intervention of the brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard, who risked their own lives to save others. The medevac list includes a fisherman who dislocated both of his hips and fractured his pelvis after a 600-pound cod pot fell on him. It includes patients with internal bleeding, others with severe heart problems, and an infant struggling to breathe due to a respiratory virus. The most recent was an 84-year old man suffering from sepsis, which can quickly become a life-threatening infection.

“It is simply beyond my ability to understand how Interior could in good conscience deny the people of King Cove this road. I do not understand how the administration rejected 61,000 acres of new federal land in exchange for a 206-acre road corridor. Nor do I understand how the administration concluded the road is not in the public interest, given the pain and suffering we see in the absence of reliable transport for the sick and injured. But today, I am done – done pleading with the administration to see reason, done asking the Interior Department to do the right thing, done waiting for someone within it to care about the people of King Cove.

“As we begin a new Congress, I look forward to holding new positions that will open new avenues to finally secure the life-saving road for King Cove. I will continue to make the health and safety of the nearly 1,000 Alaskans who live in this village one of my very top priorities. I will work with anyone, on either side of the aisle and in any part of our government, who is willing to do the same. My message today is that this fight is not over; it is about to be fully engaged.”