Gravina Island

Demographics

|align-fn=center Gravina Island first appeared on the 1940 U.S. Census as an unincorporated area. This was the only time it appeared on the census as a separate community.

Flora and fauna

A variety of wildlife and vegetation are found on Gravina Island including a disjunctive population of the Crater Lake Newt, a subspecies of the Rough-skinned Newt, whose northern range is in Alaska.

Proposed bridge

Main article: Gravina Island Bridge

In 2002, it was proposed that a for-profit prison corporation, Cornell Corrections, build a prison on the island. To connect the island with Ketchikan, it was originally planned that the federal government spend $175 million on building a bridge to the island, and another $75 million to connect it to the power grid with an electrical intertie. The Ketchikan Borough Assembly turned the proposal down when the administration of Governor Tony Knowles also expressed its disfavor to the idea. Eventually, the corporation's prison plans led to the exposure of the wide-ranging Alaska political corruption probe, which eventually ensnared U.S. Senator Ted Stevens. The bridge idea persisted. The 2005 Highway Bill provided for $223 million to build the Gravina Island Bridge between Gravina Island and nearby Ketchikan, on Revillagigedo Island. The provisions and earmarks were negotiated by Alaska's Rep. Don Young, who chaired the House Transportation Committee and were supported by the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Alaska's Senator Stevens. This bridge, nicknamed "The Bridge to Nowhere" by critics, was intended to replace the auto ferry which is currently the only connection between Ketchikan and its airport. While the federal earmark was withdrawn after meeting opposition from Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, though the state of Alaska received $300 million in transportation funding, Despite the demise of the bridge proposal, Governor Sarah Palin spent $26 million in transportation funding for the planned access road on Gravina Island that ultimately had little use.

References

References

1. {{GNIS. 1422308. Gravina Island
2. "Macroeconomics: Policy and Practice".
3. "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov.
4. (1940). "Alaska - Number of Inhabitants".
5. link. (2009-05-27)
6. [http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/08/politics-of-the-bridge-to-nowhere.aspx The Politics of the 'Bridge to Nowhere'] {{webarchive. link. (September 10, 2008 . ''Newsweek'' (September 8, 2008). Retrieved May 8, 2019.)
7. [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/8/alaska-kills-bridge-to-nowhere-that-helped-put-end/ Alaska kills infamous 'bridge to nowhere' that helped put end to earmarks], ''[[Washington Times]]'', Stephen Dinan, November 8, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
8. link. (2015-10-25 . Bohrer, Becky. ''[[Juneau Empire]]'', July 1, 2013)
9. [http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/palin.road.to.nowhere/ The bridge failed, but the 'Road to Nowhere' was built], ''[[CNN]]'', Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein, September 24, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2019.