Research Paper: The Road That Ends... For Now

The Trump administration may approve the building of a road through an Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, located in the Aleutian Chain of Alaska, for human medical needs (Kaye). Some may argue that it may not be ethical to disrupt the wildlife that inhabits Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, especially since alternative routes are available and are already being used. Research shows that the building of this road would affect all animals in the refuge, there are alternative methods and routes of transportation, and this road may also impact the humans that inhabit nearby areas.

In 1977 Congress passed the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (Brennan). Previously some of the National Wildlife Refuges allowed multiple purposes for the land, some of these reasons are that they had “little relation to or conflicting with wildlife conservation goals” this Act stated that National Wildlife Refuges “must now be managed primarily for wildlife conservation” (Brennan 52). This act also “embraced a broader land (and water) ethic”, earlier refuges focused exclusively on animals, but this Act “extended to plants and habitat” (Fischman). The purpose of the Refuge should be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to approve the building of a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

However, the road that may be approved currently goes from the town of King Cove, Alaska to the edge of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and would infringe upon the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (Brennan). Upon approval the road would extend another twelve miles, going through the refuge, to connect to the city of Cold Bay (Kaye). The main reason for this is so that when medical emergencies arise patients can be driven to the Cold Bay airport and then life-flighted to Anchorage for further medical care (Kaye). Since King Cove and Cold Bay are located on an island in the Aleutian Chain, flying to Anchorage is their only way to get to a larger city that is capable of providing the needed medical attention. The federal government is seriously considering this; in return they would receive an equal amount of Aleut, Native Alaskan, land (Kaye). It is also said that leaders of King Cove view road opponents in a negative way since they “are valuing birds and other wildlife more than residents’ medical needs” (Kaye).

Although medical care is the primary reason for building the road, there have been other motives in the past. A document from the 1990s shows that “hauling fish, not patients, was the Aleuts’ original motive for building a road through the national refuge” (Kaye). The deal that is currently being worked on does not specifically say that it can only be used for medical purposes (Kaye). Therefore, it would allow King Cove fishermen to transport tens of millions of dollars of salmon, crab, cod, and seafood to Cold Bay for business. King Cove is dependent on their commercialized fishing (Kaye). A similar story is shown in Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior as the citizens of a town try to decide if they should support a logging business which would disrupt the flight of butterflies, who have already been affected by other causes and have had to adjust their flight patterns.

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is an Alaskan refuge located off the coast of the Bering Sea (Kaye). It is protected as one of the wildest nature spots in the world (Kaye). Izembek NWR is framed by mountains and volcanoes, but also contains an underwater grass forest (Kaye). Although the lagoon and its animals would not be directly affected by the building of a road, they portray a glimpse of what a national wildlife refuge is supposed to be. This refuge has never been developed and was established six decades ago (Kaye). The Izembek NWR is home to brown bears, caribou, grizzly bears, Pacific black brants, Emperor goose, and sea birds (Kaye). This road would affect all of the mainland animals, especially since bears and caribous use this part of the isthmus as a land bridge (Kaye). There is no other way for them to get from one side of the refuge to the other. Unless, of course, they are brave enough to try to swim it. However, this is their natural pattern of migration. After a four-year study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who oversee the refuge, it was deduced that if the road were built it would “lead to significant degradation of irreplaceable ecological resources” and “jeopardize the global survival of a migratory sea goose”, speaking of the Pacific black brant (Kaye). Alternative routes and methods of transportation are available and have been used for quite some time.

However, the Aleut government of King Cove have been lobbying Congress for almost fifty years to approve this road (Kaye). There is one health center, a small building, in King Cove (Kaye). Regular exams can be done there, but the center is not equipped for emergency situations. The road would allow people to drive to the Cold Bay airport, where they could then fly patients to a hospital in Anchorage, roughly a 2.5 hour flight (Kaye). Currently, if medical needs arise, small bush planes fly patients to Cold Bay, transfer the patients to a larger plane, and then fly to Anchorage (Kaye). On average 1-2 patients need immediate medical care per month (Kaye). The fairly common high winds make the flight from King Cove to Cold Bay difficult (Kaye).

Although not the most popular solution, a ferry from King Cove to Cold Bay is believed to be the cheapest alternative to the road (Kaye). The ferry would be “capable of withstanding waves and ice” and its estimated cost, $30 million, would be the same amount as building the road” (Kaye). Other rural cities in Alaska use ferries and it has been effective.

This road would also impact human life with a potential increase of traffic and noise (Kaye). Although the road is supposed to be for medical emergencies only it would be hard to regulate that (Kaye).  As the Izembek is currently an undisturbed part of the wilderness, that could change with this road. Hiking has been permitted in the past, but no vehicles were allowed to be taken into the refuge (Kaye). Building this road would give visitors easy access to animals, providing close interactions between animal and human, whether it was desired or not. This could prove troublesome for all involved. As mentioned before, the road would intersect the land bridge that is used by bears and caribou; having cars where they used to be able to roam freely will likely cause disturbance (Kaye). Another thing to consider is the upkeep of the road. Tony Knowles, former Alaskan governor stated that the costs of “maintenance, reliability due to avalanches and storms, and travel time under these conditions” have not been explained to the public; these numbers and scenarios are still being reviewed by government officials (Kaye).

It is not ethical to build a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge when alternative routes are being used and prove to be effective, without disrupting wildlife and tarnishing the very reasons that the refuge was originally established. The building of a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge would affect the migratory patterns of many animals and allow closer human contact, which would disturb the animals (Kaye). Bush planes are already being used to transport patients from King Cove to Cold Bay and the possibility of a ferry system would likely be more reliable than a road. These other options, that would not affect the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge should be explored more fully before interrupting the landscape and wildlife located in the Refuge.

Works Cited

Brennan, Michael J., and Leah A. Kukowski. “Managing the Wildlife Refuge System: Is Anything Compatible Anymore?” JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40924656. Pages 51-72. Accessed 18 March 2019.
Fischman, Robert L. “National Wildlife Refuge System.” Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CCX1981000544&docType=Agency+overview&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=&prodId=GVRL&contentSet=GALE%7CCX1981000544&searchId=R1&userGroupName=dixiesta&inPS=true. Accessed 18 March 2019.
Kay, Jane, and Ash Adams. “Why Bulldoze One of the Wildest Places on Earth?” Why Bulldoze One of the Wildest Places on Earth? -, 18 Jan. 2019, www.hcn.org/articles/wilderness-why-bulldoze-the-izembek-one-of-the-wildest-places-on-earth. Accessed 24 January 2019.