A step forward on
King Cove road

THAT'S GOOD NEWS from Capitol Hill, regarding long-overdue legislation to clear the way for construction of a one-lane gravel road from the village of King Cove to the nearby Cold Bay airport.

Congressman Don Young reports that the House Natural Resources Committee approved his bill that would trade 61,000 acres of village and state land to the federal government, in exchange for 206 acres of land from the Izembek and Alaska Peninsula Wildlife refuges.

The 206-acre right-of-way is enough land to allow for construction of a 30-mile road, which includes . . .

(cont'd from front page) only seven miles that would pass through the former wilderness area.

As it is, the 800 residents of King Cove have no secure way in bad weather — all too common in that area — to get to the airport using surface transportation.

This bill, violently opposed by the usual environmental lobbies, still has a long way to go in Congress. But this is an important step along the way.