[TN-Bird] Proposed Navy Landing Field Threatens NC Refuge (Long)
- From: John Devereux Joslin <jdjoslin@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Bird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 10:17:16 -0400
Hazel Cassel asked that I alert the TN-birds folks to this situation:
In a message dated 7/31/03 10:11:10 AM Central Daylight Time,
WGOLDER@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
Subj: Navy Landing Field threatens refuge in NC
Date: 7/31/03 10:11:10 AM Central Daylight Time
From: WGOLDER@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: SEPART-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent from the Internet
All:
Please read below.
This is the worst place imaginable for a Navy landing field: for the
pilots and planes, not to mention
the birds. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Walker Golder
Audubon-North Carolina
more ionformation can be found on www.ncaudubon.org
NAVY PLAN FOR LANDING FIELD THREATENS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE IN
NORTH
CAROLINA
The Navy has recommended building a jet landing field just a few
miles from a National Wildlife
Refuge in North Carolina. The plan threatens the refuge, its
wildlife, and the surrounding
community. We only have until AUGUST 18TH to let the Acting
Secretary of the Navy know it is a
bad idea and to ask him to consider other options.
The recommendation came as the Final Environmental Impact Statement
on proposed basing for the
F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft was released July 18. At risk is
the globally significant Pocosin
Lakes National Wildlife Refuge located on the Albemarle Peninsula of
North Carolina. The refuge is
the historic winter grounds for 100,000 large migratory waterfowl,
including Snow Geese and Tundra
Swans from as far away as Alaska and Arctic Canada. Bald Eagles, red
wolves, and many other
significant wildlife species call the area home.
Throughout the EIS process, Audubon and many other conservation
groups, state and federal
biologists, and even a senior military safety expert warned the Navy
of the severe risk of birds hitting
planes at the location and the massive disruption to refuge
operations and wildlife the 150 low-level
flights per day would cause. To try to "manage" the risks, the Navy
has now announced plans to
buy-out or condemn 30,000 acres of family farms around the 2,000-acre
landing field and make it
unappealing to birds. If that doesn't work, they will harass the
birds and even kill them if necessary.
Local citizens are in turmoil over the impacts to their communities
and livelihoods.
Please contact the Navy Secretary and your congressional
representatives to let them know what a
bad idea this is. For quick action, go to Audubon's automated
response website:
www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/summary.asp?subject=252
Or, fax your own letter to Acting Secretary Hansford T. Johnson at
703-697-3991; be sure to also
alert your senators and representatives so they can make sure the
Navy does the right thing and
protects our natural heritage and communities.
more...
From the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Posted on Wed, Jul. 30, 2003
The Navy's bad choice: Pentagon shouldn't put fliers, planes at risk
in flyway
If the Navy's top brass accepts the recommendation of a senior
official to build a practice jet landing
field next to a national wildlife refuge in northeastern North
Carolina's Washington County, it will be
making a move that can be summed up in one word: stupid.
How stupid? This stupid: Washington County and the Pocosin Lakes
National Wildlife Refuge are
home each year to up to 100,000 tundra swans and snow geese. They fly
in each fall from Canada
and Alaska and stay until the late winter. They overnight on the
waters of the Pocosin lakes, flying
each morning to nearby fields to spend part of the day feeding before
returning to the lakes in the
evening.
The birds are big. Tundra swans often have wingspans of 6 feet and can
weigh 17 pounds. We're not
talking wrens and warblers here. We're talking about big flying
obstacles that will cause enormous
damage to the Navy's jet aircraft.
Retired Air Force Col. Jeffrey Short studied and designed the
military's bird-aircraft strike hazard
program. In 25 years of dealing with programs intended to avoid
collisions of birds and military aircraft,
he said, "I cannot recall a worse place to situate an airfield for jet
training." He told the Navy,
"Considering the significant bird strike hazards and their impact on
the mission, it would seem to be
folly for the Navy -- and the U.S. taxpayers -- to invest in the
development" of the outlying landing field
near the wildlife refuge.
The Navy is contemplating purchasing up to 30,000 acres around the
outlying land field it would
construct so the jets can practice landings. It hopes to alter the
migratory waterfowl's feeding and
nesting habits to minimize the possibility of accidents. Instead, the
Navy should alter its plans.
Washington County is as patriotic a place as you will find in this
pro-military state. But it is also
building an economy around eco-tourism. The region has an obvious
economic interest in protecting
the environment, including some of the most important winter feeding
grounds along the Atlantic
flyway.
The Navy has other options, including near the Cherry Point Marine
Corps Air Station, where the
landing field would make sense and where it would be welcomed. Given
the potential for accidents
and the existence of alternatives, the Navy and the Pentagon would
make a huge mistake siting the
landing field in Washington County. It makes no sense to put pilots,
their aircraft and some of the
Earth's most spectacular waterfowl at risk of catastrophic collision.
more...
From NPR:
NPR's Morning Edition, Wednesday morning, July 30th. Y ou can hear
it on NPR's web site,
www.npr.org, by searching under Morning Edition for July 30, or by
searching under "Roper"
Subject:
Navy Landing Field threatens refuge in NC
Date:
Thu, 31 Jul 2003 10:57:17 -0400
From:
"GOLDER, Walker" <WGOLDER@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To:
SEPART-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All:
Please read below.
This is the worst place imaginable for a Navy landing field: for the
pilots and planes, not to mention the
birds. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Walker Golder
Audubon-North Carolina
more ionformation can be found on www.ncaudubon.org
NAVY PLAN FOR LANDING FIELD THREATENS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE IN
NORTH CAROLINA<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The Navy has recommended building a jet landing field just a few miles
from a National Wildlife
Refuge in North Carolina. The plan threatens the refuge, its wildlife,
and the surrounding community.
We only have until AUGUST 18TH to let the Acting Secretary of the Navy
know it is a bad idea and
to ask him to consider other options.
The recommendation came as the Final Environmental Impact Statement on
proposed basing for the
F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft was released July 18. At risk is the
globally significant Pocosin
Lakes National Wildlife Refuge located on the Albemarle Peninsula of
North Carolina. The refuge is
the historic winter grounds for 100,000 large migratory waterfowl,
including Snow Geese and Tundra
Swans from as far away as Alaska and Arctic Canada. Bald Eagles, red
wolves, and many other
significant wildlife species call the area home.
Throughout the EIS process, Audubon and many other conservation groups,
state and federal
biologists, and even a senior military safety expert warned the Navy of
the severe risk of birds hitting
planes at the location and the massive disruption to refuge operations
and wildlife the 150 low-level
flights per day would cause. To try to "manage" the risks, the Navy has
now announced plans to
buy-out or condemn 30,000 acres of family farms around the 2,000-acre
landing field and make it
unappealing to birds. If that doesn't work, they will harass the birds
and even kill them if necessary.
Local citizens are in turmoil over the impacts to their communities and
livelihoods.
Please contact the Navy Secretary and your congressional representatives
to let them know what a
bad idea this is. For quick action, go to Audubon's automated response
website:
www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/summary.asp?subject=252
Or, fax your own letter to Acting Secretary Hansford T. Johnson at
703-697-3991; be sure to also
alert your senators and representatives so they can make sure the Navy
does the right thing and
protects our natural heritage and communities.
more...
>From the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Posted on Wed, Jul. 30, 2003
The Navy's bad choice: Pentagon shouldn't put fliers, planes at risk in
flyway
If the Navy's top brass accepts the recommendation of a senior official
to build a practice jet landing
field next to a national wildlife refuge in northeastern North
Carolina's Washington County, it will be
making a move that can be summed up in one word: stupid.
How stupid? This stupid: Washington County and the Pocosin Lakes
National Wildlife Refuge are
home each year to up to 100,000 tundra swans and snow geese. They fly in
each fall from Canada
and Alaska and stay until the late winter. They overnight on the waters
of the Pocosin lakes, flying
each morning to nearby fields to spend part of the day feeding before
returning to the lakes in the
evening.
The birds are big. Tundra swans often have wingspans of 6 feet and can
weigh 17 pounds. We're not
talking wrens and warblers here. We're talking about big flying
obstacles that will cause enormous
damage to the Navy's jet aircraft.
Retired Air Force Col. Jeffrey Short studied and designed the military's
bird-aircraft strike hazard
program. In 25 years of dealing with programs intended to avoid
collisions of birds and military aircraft,
he said, "I cannot recall a worse place to situate an airfield for jet
training." He told the Navy,
"Considering the significant bird strike hazards and their impact on the
mission, it would seem to be
folly for the Navy -- and the U.S. taxpayers -- to invest in the
development" of the outlying landing
field near the wildlife refuge.
The Navy is contemplating purchasing up to 30,000 acres around the
outlying land field it would
construct so the jets can practice landings. It hopes to alter the
migratory waterfowl's feeding and
nesting habits to minimize the possibility of accidents. Instead, the
Navy should alter its plans.
Washington County is as patriotic a place as you will find in this
pro-military state. But it is also
building an economy around eco-tourism. The region has an obvious
economic interest in protecting
the environment, including some of the most important winter feeding
grounds along the Atlantic
flyway.
The Navy has other options, including near the Cherry Point Marine Corps
Air Station, where the
landing field would make sense and where it would be welcomed. Given the
potential for accidents
and the existence of alternatives, the Navy and the Pentagon would make
a huge mistake siting the
landing field in Washington County. It makes no sense to put pilots,
their aircraft and some of the
Earth's most spectacular waterfowl at risk of catastrophic collision.
more...
>From NPR:
NPR's Morning Edition, Wednesday morning, July 30th. Y ou can hear it
on NPR's web site,
www.npr.org, by searching under Morning Edition for July 30, or by
searching under "Roper"
Dev Joslin
Oak Ridge, TN
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958
=========================================================
Other related posts:
- » [TN-Bird] Proposed Navy Landing Field Threatens NC Refuge (Long)
