Testimony of

Della Trumble

Representing the Agdaagux Tribe

Before the

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

**S.1680 "Izembek and Alaska Peninsula Refuge and Wilderness Enhancement
Act of 2007"**

**April 15, 2008**

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Senator Murkowski, and other members of
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

My name is Della Trumble. I am an Aleut born and raised in King Cove,
Alaska. I speak to you on behalf of the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove, a
federally recognized tribe of Alaska Natives. King Cove is an isolated
Alaska Native village with roots that go back over 4000 years in this
area.

We Aleuts need a road from our village to the Cold Bay airport, the
3^rd^ largest airport in the State of Alaska. We are blocked from the
construction of the road by a wilderness area, the Izembek Wilderness
which Congress and this Committee created. That is why we have come to
this Committee today to ask that S. 1680 be passed.

We are supported in our effort by the National Congress of American
Indians, the nation's largest and most respected Indian organization and
the Alaska Federation of Natives, the premier statewide Alaska Native
organization. I ask that their resolutions of support of our bill be
included in the record.

I am accompanied by another leader of my people, Stanley Mack an Aleut
who was also born and raised in King Cove. Stanley is the Mayor of the
Aleutians East Borough, our local government.

I speak to you today as an Aleut, Agdaagux tribal member, a mother, an
Alaskan and a citizen of the United States. I am deeply connected to the
land that you know as the Izembek Refuge through my ancestors, who have
lived and subsisted on this wilderness for 4,000 years. My ancestors and
all the ancestors of my people as well as future generations speak
through me today in asking for your support of S.1680.

As an Aleut, and a U.S. citizen, I remain puzzled and angered by the
fact that the designation of these lands as wilderness were made without
a single public hearing in King Cove. The records state that meetings
were held in Cold Bay and Anchorage, without any notification given to
King Cove -- the community most affected by the decision to create
wilderness.

No one from the federal government ever let us tell our story and why
the wilderness would cut us off from the outside world with no hope of
protecting our life, health, safety and quality of life. That is why we
continue to fight for a just and fair solution to this problem. The
passage of S.1680 will provide that solution.

I would be proud to show you the beautiful community that is King Cove,
nestled between sea and volcanic mountains. Gale force winds and fog can
dominate our weather. One result is that air travel between our
community airstrip, located between two mountain peaks, and the
all-weather airport in Cold Bay, is delayed or canceled about half of
the time.

Then it is anguish, and for some families in King Cove, it has brought
tragedy. Since 1979, eleven people have died flying between King Cove
and Cold Bay in bad weather. Even today, pregnant women must leave town
and temporarily relocate to Anchorage for 6-9 weeks before their due
date for fear of unpredictable weather, premature labor and
complications. We think about this all the time because in a town as
small as King Cove, we know who is facing this situation. In fact, my
niece was born at sea on the galley table of a fishing vessel. Her
mother's premature labor forced her to endure a dangerous 3-hour ocean
voyage because of high winds and blizzard conditions.

Because predicable, dependable, affordable and safe road transportation
access in and out of King Cove is essential for our sustainable future,
it continues to be our most important priority. We have advocated for
decades now to have this access to the Cold Bay airport - an airport
that King Cove residents helped to build in World War II.

We acknowledge and appreciate that Congress tried to solve our
transportation problem about ten years ago with the King Cove Health and
Safety Act, requiring us to have a road and marine link. Unfortunately,
the Act has failed to solve our problem.

The attached document describes the financial deficit which the
hovercraft operations have generated\--\$832,000 in that short time
alone. This is a real cash deficit without any accounting for
depreciation or other "paper" losses. We are a thinly populated area:
the Borough as about 2700 residents and King Cove only 800 of those
2700. It seems to us that permanent shutdown is looming and inevitable.

When that happens, we are right back in the dark ages we have suffered
since before Congress first considered this issue 10 years ago. We must
have a real, affordable solution---that is the road which is directed to
be built by S. 1680.

What does that mean? It means that we have to endure cancellations and
delays of scheduled aircraft constantly\--often as much as 50% of the
time. It means that in medical emergencies, King Cove residents, Aleuts
and others, have to risk their lives to try to help someone get out of
King Cove to Cold Bay so they won't suffer and possibly die.

We have a 6 minute video which shows what this means. It shows an
infirm, sick Aleut elder who was forced to climb up some 30 steps on a
windblown, slippery and icy ladder which is the only way on to the
isolated dock also located in an open windy, vulnerable location just
offshore from Cold Bay. Mr. Chairman, I guarantee you that you would not
want any of your relatives or friends, whether pregnant, sick, or just
infirm or elderly to have to suffer this fate.

We have provided a copy of this video which shows this for each
committee member. I ask that this video be given to each committee
member and that it be included in the record of this hearing.

I am also President of the King Cove Corporation, the local Alaska
Native village corporation which owns the aboriginal Native land which
Congress and this committee provided to Alaska natives in lieu of a
traditional lower 48 Indian reservation.

On this issue, our tribe and corporation are as one. We recognize our
duty to our people to improve the quality of their lives and the lives
of future generations in ways that are direct, quantifiable and which
reflect our deep and abiding connection to the land. That is the purpose
of S. 1680.

We come before you today not with our "hat in hand." S. 1680 contains a
land exchange of an unprecedented magnitude. More than 61,000 acres of
land from the King Cove Corporation and State of Alaska are being
offered to the federal government in exchange for 1,800 acres, of which
206 acres are for a road corridor through a very small portion of the
Izembek Refuge. Approximately 97 of these 206 acres would be in the
wilderness section of the refuge.

Of these 61,000 acres being offered to the federal government, more than
45,000 acres would become wilderness under the exchange. Almost 13,300
acres of that land is King Cove native land which means we are trading
back 17% of our heritage granted to us by Congress in settlement of our
aboriginal rights in order to get our native, indigenous people what
just about every other American takes completely for granted, the
ability to drive to an airport when necessary for health, safety, and
quality of life. We are also relinquishing a 5340 acre selection under
ANCSA which means about 20% of our total selection is affected by this
trade.

Mr. Chairman, we believe this is unprecedented in the history of
federal-tribal relations. We know of no instance in which a tribe traded
back so much of its reservation to get access to an airport or similar
need for their tribe's health, safety, and quality of life which most
Americans take for granted

This is indeed a heavy price to be paid for enhancing the lives of our
people. But we are willing to do this because it is our scared duty to
our ancestors and our future generations. WE MUST DO EVERYTHING WE CAN
TO SECURE A SAFE AND GOOD LIFE FOR OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

This Committee will probably hear today that this land to be exchanged
is not threatened and therefore not necessary to add to the Refuge and
Wilderness Systems. That is insulting to us. It is the Aleuts of King
Cove who are threatened. We have been good stewards of all this land for
4,000 years. Are we to be punished because of our good stewardship?

Congress rejected that same argument in 1980 when the Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act was passed. Most of the Izembek Refuge,
and more than 50 million acres of \"non-threatened\" lands were turned
into wilderness in 1980 by this Committee under ANILCA. Nevertheless,
Congress deemed these \"non-threatened\" lands as necessary for
protection in the wilderness system. .

We must have this road for our people to have a quality of life that all
Americans expect and to protect the life, health, and safety of the
indigenous Aleuts and all people in King Cove. To ensure that Congress
will act on this request, we, and the State of Alaska have proposed an
unprecedented land exchange, which will benefit all Americans. Please
pass this bill so this road to protect our people can be built.

Thank you for your time, Mr. Chairmen and members of the committee.
I\'ll be happy to take any questions that you have.