King Cove Access Project

The communities of King Cove and Cold Bay were separated in 1980 when President Carter – without consulting local residents – created the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. King Cove’s roughly 1,000 residents have been trying to reestablish access ever since.

King Cove is only accessible by small planes or boats. However, the remote community, located near the western end of the Alaska Peninsula and the beginning of the Aleutian Chain, is frequently plagued by hurricane-force winds, stormy weather and dense fog, which grounds or delays small plane travel to its gravel airstrip at least 30 percent of the time. In the ensuing years, 18 deaths have been associated with the lack of land access, either due to plane crashes or an inability to reach timely medical treatment.

King Cove has no hospital or full-time doctor. The community’s clinic cannot treat life-threatening heart conditions, respiratory illnesses or traumatic injuries. In medical emergencies, the clinic must call for an air ambulance or the Coast Guard, which then transports patients to Anchorage hospitals, approximately 650 miles away. Since 2013, there have been 206 medical evacuations.

King Cove residents are hopeful a land exchange will be approved to help alleviate the situation so they can access the nearby community of Cold Bay, which has an all-weather 10,000-foot-long paved runway.