The U.S. Army has extended the public comment period on a plan to conduct off-base mountain training over the North Cascades and southwest Washington for helicopter pilots to practice flyovers and landings.
The original comment period closed July 30 with hundreds of individual comments and dozens of letters from organizations. The comment period has been extended to Sept. 4.
Aviation officials at Joint Base Lewis-McChord want to create seven remote landing zones on U.S. Forest Service land so pilots flying at high altitudes can practice takeoffs and landings, The Seattle Times reported earlier.
Army officials say it would help pilots prepare to operate in mountainous conditions, such as Afghanistan, and to train closer to the base south of Tacoma to save fuel, time and other costs. The base currently conducts high-altitude training in Colorado.
The landing sites would each cover between 1 acre to 6.5 acres, including one just inside the boundary of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and another within a mile of the Pacific Crest Trail in north-central Washington.
A letter signed by 26 conservation, recreation and wildlife organizations around the state commented on the plan. The letter identified potential impacts, including concerns about violating the Wilderness Act. The letter also objected to locating proposed landing sites on existing trails and offered concerns about impacts to wildlife and local communities.
“As Americans, I think we can all agree that we want our military to be ready to defend our country when the time comes,” said Tom Uniack, Conservation Director for Washington Wild, which works to protect wild lands and waters in the state. “We can and should achieve that goal without threatening the significant investments in conservation recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat that have been made over the past several decades.”
Comments can be emailed to usarmy.jblm.imcom.list.dpw-eis@mail.mil or mailed to Dept. of the Army; Directorate of Public Works; Attn: Environmental Division; 2012 Liggett Ave., Box 339500 MS 17; Joint Base Lewis-McChord WA 98433-9500.
For more information, go to http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/publicworks/sites/envir/eia_HTA.aspx.
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