[CPEO-MEF] OVERFLIGHTS: Opposition to New Mexico-Colorado training proposal

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Join the fight against military flyovers

Jameson Wells. Peaceful Skies Coalition
Aspen Times (CO)
October 31, 2011

Dear Editor:

I am writing in reference to the low-altitude tactical navigation  
training flights (LATA) being proposed over the mountains and valleys  
of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

The U.S. Air Force at Cannon Air Force Base in eastern New Mexico  
plans to fly CV-22 Osprey and C-130 tanker planes on nighttime  
training flights in mountainous terrain. The large, loud, propeller  
planes would fly at altitudes as low as 300 feet, five nights per  
week, three flights per night, at speeds up to 250 knots. They will  
be “simulating real-world combat conditions” and practicing war games  
and spy technology over these mountains and valleys. Our skies will  
be militarized indefinitely (this is not a time-limited proposal).

The proposed training area includes 60,700 square miles of wild  
mountainous and forested terrain, including the entire San Juans, the  
Elks, the Maroon Bells, the Sawatch Range, and the Uncompaghre  
Plateau. This includes migratory bird flyways, wildlife refuges,  
endangered species habitats, sacred Native American sites, private  
farming and ranching regions, and all of the silent wild places which  
are both a home for wildlife and a source of renewal and recreation  
for people from all over the world. There are hunters, wranglers,  
hikers, anglers, climbers, campers, boaters, bikers, skiers,  
spiritual seekers and artists spread everywhere throughout these  
mountains. There is no other place like this, from the quality of the  
light to the jagged 14,000-foot peaks. This area is unique. It is  
because of this uniqueness that people come here, people who are the  
mainstay of the $6.5 billion tourism economies of the small mountain  
towns scattered throughout this area.

...

For the entire letter, see
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20111101/LETTER/ 
111039974/1020&ParentProfile=1061

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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