OPINION: Meeting the needs of all tribes, without building a road through Izembek

My tribe, the Native Village of Hooper Bay, is deeply disappointed and concerned by the Biden administration’s decision last month to move forward with a land exchange and road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, as its preferred alternative in an environmental study for the project.

This choice overlooks the harm the road is almost certain to cause to my community and fails to address concerns raised by other tribal voices.

Our survival, health, well-being and the continuance of our culture is intrinsically connected to the health of the Izembek ecosystem and these birds. This is hard for us to convey in terms broadly understood by those who were not raised in our culture, but for us this road poses life-and-death risks.

As I shared in my prior commentary, the effects of this project, when combined with the many pressures and challenges facing our community, could have devastating consequences for our people, including limiting our ability to combat an epidemic of suicides in our community. Participating in traditional cultural activities like hunting has proven to be one of the most powerful ways to prevent suicides and help solve other complex problems my people are now experiencing. This makes protecting our natural resources like these migratory birds even more critical.

Like King Cove, we take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We also have deep concerns over food security and the future health of our youth, our elders and our community.

The Native Village of Hooper Bay has long voiced opposition to an Izembek road. We understood we were facing an uphill battle in recent months because we heard federal decision makers had largely made up their minds. But we remained optimistic in the months leading up to the study’s release that decision makers would hear our concerns and understand that this matter not only deeply affects King Cove but many other tribes and communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and throughout Alaska. In fact, tribes and tribal entities from Western Alaska and other parts of the state adopted 20 separate resolutions opposing the land swap and the road. We were told that the tribal resolutions were read by the Secretary of the Interior herself, but our requests to meet with Secretary Deb Haaland or other key decision-makers have been met with silence, and we feel our concerns have been overlooked.

All Alaskans should look critically at this land swap and road project, before it’s too late. Other solutions exist to connect the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay that do not harm other tribes and communities, but these have not been given enough consideration.

We understand and respect the concerns of the people of King Cove and others who want safe and reliable transportation connecting King Cove to Cold Bay, but we respectfully disagree that a road is the best solution.

In an October commentary, Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove President Etta Kuzakin and Native Village of Belkofski President Lynn Mack offered reassurance that a road connecting King Cove and Cold Bay would not harm the migratory species we all depend on. With due respect, even the federal government, with whom King Cove is collaborating, has repeatedly shown that a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge would likely cause irreparable, potentially population-level, harm to these important species.

The fact remains that more than $40 million has been allocated to upgrade the Cold Bay dock, which supports a marine ferry option that could provide the transportation needs for King Cove while avoiding likely harm to Y-K Delta communities. President Kuzakin and President Mack are right, this is not a question of “winners and losers,” but instead is about how everyone can win. We are still hopeful a marine ferry could be considered as a winning option for all.

In their opinion piece, President Kuzakin and President Mack invited me to attend the public hearing in King Cove to discuss this project. I could not travel to King Cove due to preexisting commitments I had to keep on behalf of our Tribe, but I appreciate the invitation and am open to meeting soon to discuss this matter with Presidents Kuzakin and Mack.

We will be voicing our concerns and hope other Alaskans will join us by testifying at one the public and subsistence hearings between now and Dec. 16 or by submitting public comment. Once the public comment closes on Dec. 30, the agency will review the comments and revise the environmental study as appropriate.

We are now in the middle of winter, closing in on the shortest and darkest time of year, and our window of opportunity is closing. We will continue, as we always have, to seek a solution to this issue that serves the needs of King Cove without harming others, and we remain ever hopeful that we might still change the hearts and minds of federal decision makers.

Edgar Tall Sr. is chief of the Native Village of Hooper Bay.

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