Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) supports a controversial project to built a road through a national wildlife refuge in Alaska.

The Alaska Native village of King Cove wants a road built from its land to an airport in Cold Bay. The road would provide a more safe alternative to hovercraft travel.

Palin backs a bill that would transfer 61,000 acres of state and village land to the federal government. The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge would give up 206 acres for the 25-mile gravel road.

“Gov. Palin’s support for the effort has been strong and unrelenting. The tribe, the King Cove Corporation, the local communities, the city and the Borough are extremely grateful for that support," Della Trumble, president of the King Cove Corporation, told Indian Country Today in a statement.

Environmentalists oppose the project. They say construction will harm one of the most fertile wildlife breeding and feeding sites in the nation.

The bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee in April and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in September. But it never saw a final vote in either chamber.

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