Murkowski’s Folly
The first rule of communications is crafting an effective message.
A March 11, 2014 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt provided a unique glimpse into how messaging used by politicians can shift over time. The editorial detailed the push in the 1990s by former Senators Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to build a 38-mile road connecting the Alaskan towns of King Cove and Cold Bay. Opposed by the Clinton administration, the idea was to expedite the movement of seafood from the salmon canneries in King Cove to the airport in Cold Bay for distribution.
Twenty years later, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has taken up her father’s mantle, while subtly altering his message. Her justification for the road is no longer to boost the local economy, but rather to ensure safety. Similar to many small communities in Alaska, King Cove is not accessible by road, relying upon transportation via plane or boat.
In February 2013, Sen. Murkowski threatened to block the nomination of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell unless the road was approved. That attempt ultimately failed, and in December, Secretary Jewell formally rejected the project in part because it would run through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. In a press release announcing the decision, Secretary Jewell stated, “I understand the need for reliable methods of medical transport from King Cove, but I have concluded that other methods of transport remain that could be improved to meet community needs.” The release also pointed out that the decision does not prohibit the state government or local communities from “implementing another alternative for transportation improvements outside of the Refuge, including enhancements to the dock at Cold Bay.” This “Road to Nowhere” has also drawn support from Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).
Estimates for the road vary widely. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s final Environmental Impact Statement, the road would cost $22.7 million. An economic analysis by the Center for Sustainable Economy and The Wilderness Society suggested it would cost closer to $30 million. However, both of these assessments are based on an estimate of about $1 million per mile of construction costs. Data from the Alaska Statewide Improvement Transportation budget projections from fiscal years 2010 to 2015 suggest that the total cost of the road could swell to more than $80 million, or $2 million per mile. This calculation is based on the actual and projected construction costs of a 17 mile road in King Cove, which the Izembek road would extend. For his part, Secretary Babbitt pegs the cost at $75 million, or $79,113 per King Cove resident.
Sen. Murkowski is now pressuring the Obama administration to overturn Secretary Jewell’s decision. Citing the Izembek road, she announced her opposition in February 2014 to Rhea Suh as the administration’s nominee for Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. Sen. Murkowski also submitted a response to Secretary Babbitt’s op-ed on March 14, 2014. Sen. Murkowski’s exertions earned her Citizens Against Government Waste’s Porker of the Month honors for March 2014.
Regardless of Sen. Murkowski’s claims, it remains clear that commercial interests, not medical emergencies, are the primary driver of the project. According to a February 24, 2013 Washington Post article, “Originally, both area residents and state officials viewed the road as a way to bolster the region’s fishing industry…when King Cove passed its first resolution calling for its construction, it did not mention safety concerns and instead called for the road to ‘link together two communities having one of the state’s premier fishing port/harbors.’” The safety rationalization emerged only after it appeared unlikely that the Izembek road would receive federal funds.
In his op-ed, Secretary Babbitt concurred, claiming that Sen. Murkowski’s motivation is purely parochial, specifically to benefit Peter Pan Seafoods, the largest cannery in King Cove. According to Secretary Babbitt, “A local assemblyman acknowledged in 2010 that the road would help Peter Pan better transport ‘fresh product.’ And the local borough has been clear about its ambition to ship ‘live crab directly from the Aleutians East Borough “hub” port of Cold Bay to markets in China and other Asian countries.’”
The argument that the road will be safer than current methods of transportation from King Cove is also dubious. The Post article quoted former Eastern Aleutian Medical Director for the Public Health Service Peter Mjos, who stated emphatically, “Combined with darkness, avalanche conditions, and ice-glazed roads, an attempt to travel the proposed road would be foolish beyond any reason, regardless the emergency or business. Any attempt to maintain the road for travel in such conditions would clearly jeopardize life.”
Further, the federal government has already attempted to address the safety issue, providing $37.5 million in 1998 for a hovercraft and port terminals, a road to the hovercraft terminal, and an upgraded telemedicine facility. This agreement, reached between the Clinton administration and Alaska’s former senators, was to exist in lieu of the Izembek road. According to the Interior Department, during the time the hovercraft was in service, it successfully completed every requested medical evacuation. The borough’s mayor called it a “lifesaving machine” in 2008. After three years of providing emergency evacuations, the borough instead decided to use the hovercraft to transport workers to an alternate seafood plant.
The proposed road is so onerous that it has achieved the near-impossible in 2014: consensus between warring political parties. On March 14, 2014, a bipartisan group of former Interior Department officials supported Secretary Jewell’s rejection of the project. In a letter to the Secretary, the group, consisting of assistant secretaries from the George W. Bush, Clinton, Ford, and Nixon administrations stated, “Put bluntly, the Izembek road was a terrible idea in 1998, it was a terrible idea when you heroically rejected it last December, and it still remains a terrible idea today.”
Any consumer knows that shifted communication strategies don’t change the end product. Such is the case with this Murkowski family legacy project, where the justification has shifted from the local economy to local safety. It does not take a particularly discerning eye to deem the Izembek road still unworthy of funding.
