SUSTAINABLE RANGE MANAGEMENT

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

SUSTAINABLE RANGE MANAGEMENT

Conflicts between munitions training and environmental protection are 
on the rise. Not only has EPA ordered a halt to live fire exercises at 
the Massachusetts Military Reservation, but the Air Force is curtailing 
bombing in part of Arizona in response to threats to endangered 
species. I believe the time is ripe for the military, environmental 
regulators, and the public to develop a conceptual framework for 
Sustainable Range Management. This framework is necessary, regardless 
of who wins decision-making authority for the various situations where 
it might apply.

Sustainable development is a popular term these days for simultaneously 
promoting economic health and environmental protection. There are 
numerous definitions. I prefer the analogy of sustainable forestry, in 
which the idea is to cut trees at a rate that can be sustained indefinitely.

For munitions impact ranges, the goals should be similar:

1. Ranges should be managed for indefinite use, not for abandonment 
when the load of unexploded ordnance or toxic constituents or 
byproducts becomes too great.

2. Range contamination should be minimized to permit cost-effective 
remediation and reuse if it's determined that the ranges are no longer 
needed for training or testing.

3. Range hazards - explosive and toxic - should be confined to the ranges.

4. Range management should not put response personnel or other range 
users at unnecessary risk.

These goals are somewhat vague, and sometimes they conflict. 
Nevertheless, they can provide the basis for both site-specific use 
plans and for the development of both prevention and remediation technology.

The war-fighters in the Pentagon are suspicious of any efforts by 
outsiders to curtail training or weapons testing. They believe 
environmental critics have ulterior motives. Indeed, some of us believe 
that an over-ready military can (and has) enticed our nation's 
leadership to taking inappropriate military actions. 

Nevertheless, in the absence of war, a national emergency, and the 
constant tension of the Cold War, it should be possible to reach 
consensus that we have enough breathing space right now to take a long 
view at the environmental management of ranges. Done properly, that 
will serve national security in both the short and long run.

Lenny Siegel