The recent decision on the King Cove road has got me upset.

In case you missed it, the people of King Cove have been asking for a road from their community to the all-weather Cold Bay Airport for decades. The problem is that the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge lies between. To the people in this community, it is a matter of life and death when trying to get to the Cold Bay airport in bad weather. It’s so important to the community that it and the state are willing to exchange 56,000 acres for the 206 acres needed for the road.

But the Obama Administration said no.

In announcing her decision on the matter, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewel said, “After careful consideration, I support the Service’s conclusion that building a road through the Refuge would cause irreversible damage not only to the Refuge itself, but to the wildlife that depend on it. Izembek is an extraordinary place…”

I have met Secretary Jewell and she seems like a nice enough person. And there is no doubt that this is a remarkable piece of land with remarkable wildlife. However, she is simply wrong on this one. Nothing can be extraordinary enough that we put it ahead of the lives of nearly a thousand people.

When I was in grade school, we did an exercise called “Lifeboat” – something the psychologists call a lesson in “values clarification.” The premise was simple, you were one of 10 people on a boat that was sinking and the lifeboat only had space for six. It was up to you to determine which four people got thrown overboard. Although we were told there was no right or wrong decisions, the goal was to force you to confront your values and understand your moral compass.

I had déjà vu when I read the news release on the King Cove decision. It is an example of values clarification. The Department of Interior has put 0.07% of the refuge land in the lifeboat and thrown the 950 souls of King Cove overboard. When you read the congratulatory statements from eNGOs, you’ll see they support the decision because they ‘recognize the incredible value of this remote wilderness.’ Of course, there is no mention of people. Why aren’t we recognizing the incredible value of human life?

I suppose none of this should surprise us. This is the result of years of efforts by eNGOs to fight against development – regardless of the impact on people. In fact, Kieran Suckling, a founder of the Center for Biological Diversity described the aggressive tactics to get the government to submit to its will:

“New injunctions, new species listings and new bad press take a terrible toll on agency morale. When we stop the same timber sale three or four times running, the timber planners want to tear their hair out. They feel like their careers are being mocked and destroyed – and they are. So they become much more willing to play by our rules and at least get something done. Psychological warfare is a very under-appreciated aspect of environmental campaigning.”

The King Cove road decision is the latest victim of a psychological war being waged around us. Yes, we must be good stewards of our planet, but our values need to be clear and unambiguous. Otherwise, if we are not careful, we will lose the psychological war and our moral compass and forget that human life is precious and needs to be protected.

I am sure someone will read this and accuse me of not caring about the environment. The truth is I do care deeply about habitat and the wildlife that rely on it, but not at the expense of human life.

My values are clear.

Return to newsletter headlines