[CPEO-MEF] U.S. military is fighting urban sprawl

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICE
U.S. military is fighting urban sprawl
By Alan Elsner, Reuters
Tuesday, December 02, 2003

WASHINGTON — Beset by enemies abroad, the U.S. military also faces an
insidious threat to training and operations at home: urban sprawl.

Military bases throughout the country, many of which were once located
in isolated areas, now find themselves enveloped by the inexorable
spread of suburbs whose residents then complain about noise from planes
or artillery, dust, and danger of accidents.

The Pentagon, the National Governors Association, and many states are
trying to address the issue with a mix of voluntary guidelines and laws
designed to protect the ability of the military to carry out its
missions.

"All services in the military are experiencing this problem and are
trying to work with local communities. Some are more cooperative than
others," said one Pentagon official who deals with the issue. "Military
installations are major economic engines, and development has been
crowding closer and closer and closer, sometimes to the point that
either the mission has to cease or the base has to close. This is what
uncontrolled urban sprawl is doing to us throughout the country," the
official said.

For example, Los Alamitos Naval Air Station near Los Angeles is no
longer an active air base. It now exists as an army reserve station, and
there is some doubt how much longer that will last.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-12-02/s_10901.asp

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