King Cove, AK – March 16, 2012 – Community and tribal leaders from the City of King Cove and the Aleutians East Borough are congratulating the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) for moving forward with the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for a land exchange, which could allow construction of a proposed road corridor linking remote King Cove to the Cold Bay airport. Today, the USFWS announced that the agency has issued the draft EIS.

“This has been a decades-long battle for the indigenous people,” said Della Trumble, King Cove (Native) Corporation and Agdaagux Tribe spokeswoman. “We are relieved the process is moving forward. Our community has already lost too many lives in the struggle to get access to the Cold Bay airport and the outside world during emergencies.  We’re glad the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listened to us throughout this process and has issued the draft EIS. We hope it will allow this critical matter to be evaluated fairly.”

Sand Point, AK – July 1, 2011 - By unanimous vote, the Aleutians East Borough (AEB) Assembly passed a resolution yesterday, opposing the reapportionment of the Aleutians East Borough communities in the 2011 Alaska Redistricting Plan. The plan, adopted in final form on June 13, 2011, divides the AEB and the region into separate House Districts 36 and 37 and separate Senate Districts R and S.

False, Pass, AK - April 7, 2011 - A destructive storm sweeping through much of Alaska caused extensive damage in False Pass yesterday, including100 mile-per-hour winds that collapsed buildings and blew part of a the roof off of one home. False Pass is located near the western tip of the Alaska Peninsula on Unimak Island.

According to False Pass City Clerk Chris Emrich, the public safety building roof was partially blown off and the medical clinic windows were blown out.  The doors to the ambulance bay were also halfway ripped off. Siding was torn off of the village public safety officer’s house. The wind flipped a 4-wheel vehicle over (used by the medical clinic staff) and pushed it about 30 feet down the road. Windows were blown out in several homes and in the housing duplex used by clinic staff.  Some buildings completely collapsed, including older vacant houses.

King Cove, AK – Feb. 11, 2011 – City and tribal leaders say three challenging medevacs recently, including one today,  from the remote City of King Cove, emphasize the critical need for the proposed road corridor linking the City to the Cold Bay Airport. King Cove community leaders say the small gravel road would provide residents with safe and reliable transportation to the airport and the outside world for health and quality-of-life reasons.