Earlier I sent information about the proposed road through the biological heart of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge--Don Young lied during his testimony but he had to sit and listen to mine and I got in all the facts before my 4 min was up. The hovercraft takes 20 min--the proposed road would take 1 to 2 hours in the best weather. It's vital to get public comment. If you need me to resend the talking points please let me know. The deadline for public comments is May 1. Phyllis Grassroots battle over Alaska road Small protest precedes public hearing on wildlife refuge.By Ambreen Ali Of the hundreds of protests staged in the nation's capital each year, a small percentage have large turnouts.Most are small events staged by a handful of committed activists who have been working on a specific issue for years. On Thursday, six environmentalists stood in front of the Department of Interior to protest a road project for medical evacuations that would cut through a national wildlife refuge. The Alaska Wilderness League staffers, accompanied by an activist from Iowa, huddled around a man dressed in a brown duck costume. He represented the Pacific black brant, a goose found in the Izembek refuge that the group says would be endangered by the road."Roads don't belong in the wilderness," Brian McLane, the AWL intern within the duck outfit, said. "This is a visual cue of what's at stake." Their aim was to raise public awareness about the issue, but most pedestrians simply smiled and moved on. Inside the Interior building, the Fish and Wildlife Service took comments from about 20 people on both sides of the debate. Thursday's event was the culmination of a decades-long battle between environmentalists like McLane and local Alaskan residents who want the road. Both rest their hopes on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the only man who can stand in the way of the project. Last year, Members of Congress — including all three Alaska lawmakers — approved building the road for medical evacuation and noncommercial purposes. Now Salazar has to determine that the road will serve the public interest before millions of tax dollars can go towards its construction. If he does, it would be the first road ever to bisect a congressionally designated wilderness. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which is part of the Interior Department, is conducting a series of public hearings in Washington, D.C., and Alaska before drafting a plan. Officials said they don’t expect to take action until 2012. Opposing the environmentalists are local residents of remote King Cove, a remote northeast Alaska town that is 625 miles from Anchorage. They have been fighting for decades for the single-lane gravel road that would connect them to an airport in Cold Bay, 18 miles away.A few flew to Washington D.C. to attend Thursday’s public hearing. They said the road is about quality of life for King Cove's residents."Not many of the other projects discussed in Washington, D.C., have as much grassroots support," said Mayor Stanley Mack of Aleutians East Borough, a region that includes King Cove and Cold Bay. Alaska's sole House Member, Republican Don Young, also spoke in favor of the road. He mentioned the tiny protest outside in his testimony. "This is about people, not Washington D.C. or somebody standing outside dressed as a bird," Young said. "Other than some outsiders, there is no opposition to this road."The main purpose of the project would be to provide transportation for ambulances and emergency vehicles, but public buses and taxis would also be allowed to use it. Members of Alaska Wilderness League, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, National Audubon Society, and The Wilderness Society testified against the road project, saying that a hovercraft currently used for medical evacuations is working just fine.In addition to their concerns that 250,000 black brants, hundreds of bears, fish and other wildlife could be displaced by the road, the groups worry that oil companies and other local industries could eventually gain access to the road. David Raskin of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges said that as long as government officials do their due diligence, the road should be blocked."The only thing that would stand in the way is politics," he said. Phyllis Mains, a conservationist from Iowa, testified that her tax dollars shouldn't help build a "road to nowhere." The road would affect people outside Alaska who like to hike, hunt, and bird watch, she said, adding that the $20 million cost of the road would only be the beginning."My great grandchildren would still be paying for its maintenance," she said. Despite the small turnout at Thursday’s protest, AWL government affairs director Kristen Miller said grassroots activism has stopped similar initiatives in the past.She cited a 2005 bill to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. House lawmakers from both parties stopped the attempt after hearing from their constituents. "It was tried and true activism that worked," Miller said.That's what Mayor Mack and King Cove's residents are counting on, too. DAmbreen Ali writes for Congress.org. ____________________________________________________________ Weight Loss Program Best Weight Loss Program - Click Here! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=z_a9wL1vB-B9vM-Uk8ilvAAAJ1CqhysHoqKPmxy1AMlPj2phAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEUgAAAAA= - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp